Legend of Zelda: Cataclysm Legends
by Mr Brock
Summary: The memories of the Hero of Time and the Cataclysm Hero themselves are coming to a boy. A Princess in distress escapes around a Hyrule on the edge of destruction. They meet. An effort to connect the games. With some humor.
1. Chapter 1: Lost and Found

**Legend of Zelda: Cataclysm Legends**

I am not the owner of the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters .

This is just an experiment, to try to show the connections in some Zelda games. And to try to close the Cataclysm cycles. And to take a look into the questions we all have: just what the hell is the Triforce? And why are Link, Zelda and Ganon always connected to it? Of course, I recognize the influence of Rose Zemlya, the best Zelda-fiction author there is, and of the Hime.

I'm assuming this chronology: OoT ï  MM ï  AlttP ï  LoZ ï  AoL. And I'm working with AlttP's map. In this story, OoT and AlttP are way old.

**I. Lost and found**

'Link!' raged the voice.

No one answered.

'Link!' Same silence. 'LINK! Oh, I'll find you, you pesky little brat! And just you wait! When I get my hands on you, I'll—— Hey! There you—— Wait! C'mere! LINK!'

But Link knew better than to come back. Surely, when _she_ got mad, things could get _quite_ messy. What was it that she had him do last time? _By the way, _when_ was last time? Yesterday?_ _Ah, right. Yesterday she made me paint the front door... _again _I'd rather not be caught today_.

So he ran until his lungs went out of air and were burning painfully. He went out of the house, and went to his tree. He quickly got on top of it, and hid himself. Once there, he sighed happily. _Ha! She'll never find me here. This is _my _tree_, he thought, smiling victoriously.

'There you are!'

_Oh-oh. Better get out of here fast_.

He tried to get down quickly, so as to keep running and gain some safe distance. But she got there first.

'Ow! Ow! OW!' he cried, as she got a hold on his ear.

'How could you, Link?' she asked, her eyes blazing with lightning. Link just _hated_ that look——especially since it usually meant he was in some _serious_ trouble. And now they looked like she was positively furious. _OK, so maybe I shouldn't have run_.

'How could you run off on me like that? And how could you forget? 'I told you at least a thousand times!'

She released his ear —his pointed hylian ear— and, grabbing his hand, walked him back to the house. She never stopped the lecture. When at last they got home, she opened the newly painted white door, and took him to the kitchen. On the table was a misterious grey bag. She made him sit down in front of her, and looked down on him again. Only then did she realize he was crying. He had his face down, trying to hide his tears, but he was sobbing and trembling all over.

'Oh... Hey now, Link,' she said comfortingly. 'There's no need to cry. It's just- it's just that you're not supposed to do those things, is all. If you forget something, you can't lie to me, or hide it from me. You're supposed to be responsible, right?' She took his chin with her left hand, forcing him to look up at her, while she cleaned the wetness of his eyes. 'Don't get upset, now. And stop crying. Your eyes look so much better when you are not crying.'

She tried to smile to her, but couldn't quite manage it.

'That's _much_ better. You must not cry, Link. Ever. You have to be strong, and face your responsibilities. And you can start by telling me what happened. Why didn't you do as I asked you to?'

'I – it – I – it wasn't my fault!' he tried to articulate through his wailing. 'It wasn't my fault Aunt Lea. Master Curt told me that I could take him your bags on the day past tomorrow.'

'Oh, _really_? He said that?'

That tremendous look was on her eyes again. What had _he _done wrong?

'Oh, I'm sorry, Link,' she said. 'Why didn't you tell me Curt had told you so?'

He murmured something that sounded something like _ditoluso_.

'You see? It wasn't your fault, so you don't have to cry. Don't cry. What would your uncle say if he saw you?'

_She's right. Uncle Tom must not see me crying_.

'There now, that's better. Don't you ever cry, Link. You must stand up and face your destiny bravely. So, everything's okay then: it's Master Curt's fault. Stop worrying now, OK?' He nodded. 'But, in retribution, you will take the bag to him now.'

'And then it'll be OK?' He was already smiling again. _Phew. So it wasn't _my _fault. _

'And then it'll be OK.'

'Alright!' He took the bag from the table. _Hmm, while we're at it_. 'May I look at what's inside, Aunt Lea?'

'No! Of course you can't! It's the elder's stuff.'

_Darn. _'Oh, okay. I'll see you later.' Disappointed, he made his way out of the house, running again. He nearly bumped Uncle Tom, who was just getting in. 'Sorry, Uncle Tom!' he still managed to growl. Uncle Tom threw a puzzled look at Aunt Lea, who just rolled her eyes.

Link kept on running. He lived at the southern end of Kakariko, while Master Tom's house was on the hill in the northern side. He didn't pay attention to the people walking on the streets, not even to his friends. He wanted to get there fast, finish this bag-carrying business, and get on with playing. The Sun was already going down, and he wanted to make the most of this day.

At last, sweating and breathing heavily, he arrived at the elder's house. It was a small, old wooden building. It was not much more of a hut, actually. A chimney on the eastern side of the house, where the front door was also, sent perpetual clouds of smoke.

Link left the bag down, hoping whatever was in there hadn't been affected by his rush, and knocked heavily. Master Curt seemed could be down on that basement of his. Truly, a good deal of time passed before the door was finally opened. Behind it an old, bald, bearded Hylian appeared. He was not very tall, Link's head almost at the height of his (which was very rare for a Hylian). But Master Curt seemed to be not only very short, but also a hundred years old. His beard was very long and very white, and his eyes looked profound and tired. His face was all wrinkled. He was dressed elegantly, but in a very old fashion.

Even his voice seemed ancestral. It was grave and deep, but had a special fineness, which Link liked a lot. Actually, Link was a friend of him. He liked to go to the old man's house, and learn from his lore. For Master Curt seemed to know everything that had ever happened in Hyrule. _He's _the elder_, after all_, Link told himself. He actually wasn't quite sure what that meant. He was the most respected man in Hyrule, but he didn't seem to work in anything, and yet he was not poor. Uncle Tom had told him he was an advisor to the King. And so the elder lived, studying in his house, and walking around town (and even in the woods around the town!), and talking to everybody, and telling old stories and songs.

Presently, he looked down at Link and smiled.

'She wasn't too hard on you, was she?'

Link looked back at him, amazed. 'How do you know Aunt Lea yelled at me?'

'Well, I just guessed. You see, I realized I _did_ need that bag today, so I told your Aunt this morning to tell you to bring it up. But I forgot to tell her I had told you to bring it later, so this mess is my entire fault.'

'Well, you shouldn't have forgotten,' said Link angrily.

'Now, don't be angry at me, Link. I told you I'm sorry.'

'What's in the bag, anyway?' he asked, trying not to sound too curious, but failing miserably.

'If you stop scowling at me, I may tell you.'

'Really, you will?' he asked anxiously. _Great! I've wanted to know what's in there all day!_

'Hand it to me,' the elder told him. Link complied. Master Curt stepped out of the house and took a look around, verifying no one was watching them. 'Follow me,' he whispered.

Link's heart leapt with joy, as he followed the old man inside. Going into the elder's house was always an interesting experience. Master Curt had all kinds of magical instruments and stuff. He let Link inside and carefully closed the door.

Inside, the house was a little dark, and smelled funny. _This house always smells like this. I wonder if the elder would get angry if I told him_. 'I'm sorry for the smell, Link. I was working on a special potion. Anyway, follow me.' _How did he know? I'm sure he can read minds!_

Link followed Master Curt, crossing the small hall, dimly lit and simply furnished. There was a low door at the end of the hall, and a corridor to the right. It led to the elder's room and kitchen, the proper house. But the elder opened the door, revealing a staircase excavated on the hillside that led down to the basement. Down there was the real place worthy of a visit. Master Curt had his study down there. In the basement were his books and artifacts and, of course, his potions.

The stairway had been excavated, and the steps were made of stone. It was clean, but also smelled funny. The fire of a torch illuminated the way down. The elder sped down, but Link had some trouble trying to maintain his balance on the rough-ended steps. Finally, he got down to a room filled with a queer fluorescent mist. _Wow, now _this _is weird_.

Link enjoyed himself watching around, while the elder brought him a small wood chair. The room was as big as the house upstairs. Its walls were all covered with books and strange machines. Some of these strange things shined, some made soft chirring noises, and some even moved from time to time; others seemed to have no actual purpose at all. On the other side of the room was the chimney, where a great cauldron was burning by the fire. The strange mist and smell came from it. There were also many tables across the room: some empty, some had papers all over them. A lot of multicolored bottles lied both in the bookshelves and on the tables.

The elder had Link sit down, and then took a seat in front of him, next to an empty table. He opened the bag happily, and took out a small package. It seemed to be some kind of herb, carefully tied. Link gazed at it with huge amazed eyes, being full of wonder.

'What is it, Master? Is it some kind of powerful herb to make a new potion? Is it an antidote? Is it a poison? Is it a special ingredient with magical properties?'

The elder smiled at him. 'No, not by far.' He took a small piece of the herb, and put the rest on the table. Then he took out something from one of his pockets. _What's that? Is it a— It's – a pipe?_ 'Pipe weed!' said the elder. 'I finished my last yesterday night, and I was desperate to get some more. Thank your Aunt and the goddesses for this!'

Link's face immediately revealed his disappointment. _All this mystery, and rush, and being yelled at, just for pipe weed?_

The elder looked at him and smiled. 'Forgive me, young one. But we old men are full of queer convictions that many times defy reason. I, for example, would be paralyzed without my pipe.' And taking out some kind of fire, lightened up his pipe, and began smoking vigorously.

_Well, I guess I'll go, then._ Link sighed heavily and stood up.

'Oh, don't go,' said the healer. 'You can stay for a while, as I finish heating my potion. You can tell me some of your new adventures, for example. You know I am most pleased to hear them.'

'Well,' conceded Link, looking excited. 'OK, I'll tell you. But,' his face became very serious, 'you must _not_ tell my uncle.'

'Of course not,' laughed the elder.

'You promise?'

'Sure.'

'In that case, I'll tell you.' And Link began telling him. Actually, his 'adventures' were almost infinite. Link seemed to know every secret in town, and he also seemed to know just the best way to use it for his own entertainment. He told the elder of the way he had taken one of his aunt's bottles that were magically able to contain anything, not mattering its size, filled it with repulsive insects, and freed them in the house of Dobb, one of his least-friendly schoolmates. He told him of how he had taken Anju's cuckoos —her family had always had cuckoos— and hid them all over the town. Of course, he told Anju it had been Dobb's mischief, and later had a great day helping her recapture them all. And the best part was watching Anju yell at Dobb, who had no idea of what had happened. And his stories went on and on...

'Oh, and there's this new trick I learned. I can enchant birds! And other animals. But mainly birds!'

'What's that?' asked the elder with sudden interest, after giving his pipe an amazing smoke.

'I can enchant birds, using my flute,' and saying this he took out a small instrument. It seemed very old, older even than Master Curt.

'Let me see it,' asked the elder, and taking the flute he examined it with great curiosity.

'Who told you how to use a flute?'

'No one did. I just tried to play, and a melody came out of it, as if I remembered it. It's very pretty. It sounds like... it sounds like the forest,' said Link.

'Like the forest...' said the elder slowly. 'Did your uncle give it to you?'

'Uh, well no.' _Fool, now he'll ask you where you got it_.

'Really? Then where did you find it?'

'Well,' said Link, blushing, 'it really doesn't matter.'

'Oh, but I daresay it does. Tell me, Link,' he said, his voice acquiring a serious tone.

_Yup, that's the no-nonsense tone. Better tell him_. 'Well, I found it in a chest. In a very old-looking chest that I found at— at the entrance to the woods north of the village.'

'You entered the Lost Woods?' asked the surprised elder.

'Ah... well, maybe. Maybe I did. But just a little. I didn't stay there for too long. And I didn't go that far into them.'

The healer frowned. 'Link, you know you're not supposed to go in there.'

_Great going, you dumb cuckoo_. 'I know, I know. But, really, it's not like I lost myself, right? I was very bored, and I kind of found myself in there, so I decided it wouldn't do much harm if I explored for a while,' said Link, hiding a malicious grin.

'Link, you must promise me never to go inside those woods again.'

'But——'

'Promise me,' said the elder.

'Oh, OK. I promise,' moaned Link, defeated at last. _How can he do this to me? This has been a very bad day_, he thought sadly. He groaned, but Master Curt was barely paying any attention to him. He seemed to be very interested with the flute.

'Hmmm,' he murmured. 'There are markings here. Have you noticed them, Link?'

'No,' answered Link. _Marks? Of course there are no marks._

'Quite interesting,' said the elder. He stood up, with his pipe on one hand and the flute in the other. He then put the pipe to his mouth, left the flute over a table, and headed to one of the shelves at the end of the room. From it he took a very big book, looking as old as time.

'What's that?' asked Link.

'This?' asked the healer absent-mindedly. 'It is a book of old lore...' He opened it and began searching for something. Apparently, he found what he was looking for, because a great smile crossed his face. 'Amazing,' he said. He left the opened book on a table, and grabbed another one. He opened this new one and placed it next to the old book. He went on, searching for another. He seemed to be totally absorbed in his labor, so Link had to generate one of his special, 'polite coughs'. _Yes, yes, I'm still here_. At this sound Master Curt looked back, as if just now remembering his presence.

'Oh, Link, you're still there. Uhh... could you lend me your flute for some time? There's something I want to check out.'

_What? What is he talking about? _'Oh,' he managed to say, 'sure.'

'Thanks. And so, if you would excuse me—'

Link got up, annoyed, and left the elder to continue his inquiry.

_Great, just great. What a day. It's not fair! Now I can't play my flute! Or even go to the forest! I lost my whole day doing all these stupid promises. Oh, I'd love to go to the forest right now. It's just so _dull_ out here_.

He was walking away from the elder's house, with no particular direction. The sky was suddenly getting clouded, and daylight was waning. The sun had almost set down, its rays almost hidden by the forest which surrounded Kakariko. Link stopped. Being on the high part of the town (the elder's house was built on a hill at the north), he could easily take a look at the forest to the north and west. He had always been attracted to the woods, but had always also been warned against them. They're not safe, he'd been told. Actually, most of the townsfolk disliked them. That was the reason the fence that surrounded Kakariko had been made. And that was the reason it was perpetually guarded by soldiers. And that was the reason why Link was confined to the dull town.

_If only they'd let me get out!_

Entering the forest was not a problem. He had actually found a gap in the fence, and evading the guards was the easiest trick.

_Humph. Guards_, he thought, smiling inwardly. _Everyone admires them, and they think they're so great with their long spears and their black uniforms, and that strange royal crest they have in their chest. What are those weird triangles, anyway?_

_Well, _I _managed to get past _them_. They should all see that, and admire me too. And _then_ they'd see I'm as brave as they are, and _then_ they'd let me go into the forest, looking for adventures. Oh_ _I _hate _this town! I'm boooored. I wish something happened. At least... at least once every hundred years!_

He had just thought that when, as in response, a huge drop of water fell right on his nose. _Hey!_ He scratched himself, and watched another drop fall next to him. And brusquely, millions began to fall as rain started.

_Hey! Oh, great, just great. Now my day _is _getting better. I'm going to get all wet and muddy and Aunt Lea's _not_ going to be happy. She'll yell at me –again– and... And there's no shelter around here!_

He was out in the open, having walked to the empty field next to the fence. And, yes, quite accurately, there was the gap in the fence: a little hole on the ground which he, being small and quite slender, could easily crawl through. The rain was quickly developing into a storm.

_Oh, a storm. Look, there goes a lightning. Can't think of anything better. I can't run all the way back home! I'll surely get sick and I won't be able to come out again, ever. I'll surely die in a bed. How dull. And, of course, if I die, Aunt Lea is going to kill me!_

The idea came just then to him, and he grinned widely.

_Hey, just a minute. I'll wait under the forest trees until the storm ends! They can't punish me for not getting wet and avoiding my death!_

And as soon as his mind was made, he quickly crawled under the fence and ran up the gentle slope to the nearby trees. The sun had hidden completely, and the world was covered in shadows when he got there.

And then the screams began.


	2. Chapter 2: Fire and Ashes

Here goes another. A very special thanks to ignorantly grinning that wrote the first review (and agrees with me on chronology stuff). It'll take a little while to set up the plot and move on to the real story (in which Link is not a child).

**II. Fire and ashes**

Link was under a great tree, trying to get dry. Rain fell down, cold as death. The wind blew heavily. The little Hylian kid hid beneath the branches of the greatest tree he found and waited. He crossed his arms around his chest and tried to provide some warmth to himself. The sky was completely dark; no stars were to be seen. It seemed as if he was in the middle of the night, in a lightless cave. A lot of animals were making strange, scary noises. And yet, as he stared at the falling rain, he felt happy.

He was in the woods, after all.

_In the woods, and after dark! There's no light anymore! Now _this_ is adventure. Of course, I promised Master Curt I wouldn't go inside the woods... But surely, there'll be no problem if I just wander around the woods? I mean, I'm out here already. Not that I wanted to, of course. The rain made me come here._

But the rain stopped, as abruptly as it began. It was something too strange to be a mere climatic phenomenon, but Link realized nothing of the sort at the time. Presently, he was just happy with his luck. Even if he had realized anything, it wouldn't hurt if he stayed in the woods just a little while longer, right?

His hand moved to his back, touching the familiar shape of the staff he held. Uncle Tom had given it to him, just a week ago, on his twelfth birthday. He always carried it with him since that day. It was made of strong, hard wood. Of course, that hadn't been Link's wish. He had always wanted a sword, and had begged Uncle Tom for about a year for it. But Uncle Tom thought he was just too little to have a sword. _Humph._ Anyway, the staff was good enough. It had his name carved in especially carved letters (his design), and had the Royal Crest. Link himself had carved that one. (_Stupid Dobb. Of course it does look like the Royal Crest._)

_Of course, I've always known that soldiers are kinda goofy. But if I am going to show everybody I am braver than they are, then I surely deserve to wear the Royal emblem. Yeah. _I'm_ brave. As much as they are, anywa—— Huh? What was that? What was that noise? Uh... It doesn't matter! Just let that stupid forest creature come near me! I'll soon deal with him good. After all the cool moves Uncle Tom taught me-! _

And he practiced the routine he'd been told again. He wasn't really that good, but he looked quite impressive as he moved the blade in long arcs and sleek attacks.

_Of course, Uncle Tom is a great swordsman. Sure, he is not very wealthy and all that, but he is a _direct_ Hylian descendant. A true noble. How's that, Dobb? Your father doesn't even know how to use a sword, but my uncle does! And he told me my dad was _even better_! Ha! If _you _were here in the forest at _night_, you'd already be crying. You told everyone you know the forest like you know your room, but I don't believe you. You're too fat to get through the hole at the gate! No, he's not fat. That'd be Robbie. Well, OK, so you're not fat. But still, you _don't _know of the hole I found, so I outsmarted you there. _And _you would be crying now, while I'm ready to kick any animal's——_

A sudden flash lit the sky.

_Huh? What was that? It looked like a flaming comet. Cool! And hey! it stopped raining. _

It was really a flame. Only it didn't look big enough, or distant enough to be a comet. The flame went up, high in the air, and then in a graceful arc went back down. It looked it was heading into the middle of the town, but the fence hid it from view.

_Hey, I want to see that!_

Link put out his staff and started to climb a tree that looked it had enough branches. He didn't take long to get to the top —he had a lot of practice from hiding from Aunt Lea in _his_ tree—, but realized some more comets, or whatever they were, had crossed the sky behind him (a thing he was graceful for, as they were barely the only sources of light; climbing a tree in the dark was no easy job, even for Link).

At last he reached a branch that seemed high and strong enough to hold him. Getting into a more comfortable position (_stupid –ow– tree_), he turned around, eager to watch the spectacle of light that was surely going on behind him. But his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it.

The lights were not flying one by one. There were hundreds of them! And they were falling in the middle of the town! On top of the houses, on the central square, on public buildings, on the people's houses! And they didn't stop burning! They were burning the town! Kakariko was on fire.

_What is going on here? What are those things?_

He refused to believe his eyes, but he could not avoid the simple truth that came to his mind. Those were no comets. They were arrows. Burning arrows. Someone was burning the town. Someone —a lot of men, by the number of arrows— were attacking Kakariko! He watched them fly. Were it not for their purpose, they would have looked like a rain of stars.

Fortunately (fortunately?) he was just on high enough ground, far enough from the village. He could see everything. He couldn't quite make out everything that was happening, not exactly, but he got a pretty good idea. Burning arrows had been thrown in massive numbers. Kakariko's buildings, made mostly of wood, were now in flames. Columns of smoke rose into the air, engulfing it in darkness.

Then the screams hit him. It was as if someone had put the sound back on. He heard the people yelling: heard their screaming, their cries for help, and the shrieks of terror. People were getting out of their houses, trying to escape the fire. They were running on the streets, running wildly. Some must be carrying weapons: he could make out the shapes of metal blades. Surely a defense was being assembled.

_Finally!_, thought Link. Surely, the King's guards were just a bunch of fools, but they _were_ the King's Army. _Nothing can stop them! And my Uncle Tom is with them! A true Hylian Knight! Err, at least a true descendant of them!_ He smiled. _Go get them, Uncle Tom! Show them nobody messes with kakarikeans!_

But they didn't look like they were getting into a very decent position. Blinded by smoke, unable to breathe properly, everyone was trying to make it to the center of the village, looking for air.

Another sound reached him. He wondered if the storm was starting again (_nope, no rain_). But there was definitely a sound like thunder. Then he realized an earthquake must be taking place, for the very ground was shaking. And his own branch was moving in an alarmingly uncomfortable way. Releasing a little yelp, he grabbed himself to the tree with as strongly as he could.

And then he saw them. They were no thunder, but the sound they made was like it, and they moved as swiftly as the wind. They were men, many men with horses. They entered the village at a gallop, ruining whatever stood in their way. They had weapons. Giant spears, brilliant swords shone in their hands. Bows at their backs. They were all dressed in crimson red. They charged at the village.

_What's going on?_ Link wondered, his eyes suddenly full of tears.

It was a horrible spectacle, but one from which he couldn't take away his eyes. The enemy attacked violently, furiously. They killed everyone they saw. If someone stood in their way, they rammed him, their horses passing over the bodies. They killed everyone they saw; if someone tried to run from them, a rider would stop, take out his bow, and hit the man with a carefully directed arrow. Everyone was screaming, trying to fly from the riders, but nobody knew which way to run.

The riders got separated. They were in the whole town, bringing death into every street and house of it. No one escaped their ferocious charge. But there! Link managed to get a look at the center of the village again. It was hard to see. Some of the houses had fallen, smoke covered everything. Link thought he saw some men trying to stand a defense. He actually saw, or though he saw, the armor and manners of the royal guards. They were trying to get together, and arrange some kind of formation, in the middle of the town. It seemed they couldn't get themselves in a decent position: they were fighting to stand their ground in the middle of the debris, the screams and confusion. Everyone was yelling at each other. At last they got into some kind of square formation. There seemed to be unarmed figures inside the square, probably those villagers that made it to the guards. Many men seemed to be giving orders at the same time.

The enemy got to them, and stopped, facing them. One of them stood in the stirrups of his horse, screamed something, and all of the riders raised their swords, screaming after him. With a great roar, they charged on the defendants. Some of the royal guards tried to raise their spears to receive the attack, but not many. A lot of them were unarmed; others simply could not see where the line was supposed to be hold. The enemy's charge easily broke their lines, passed through them and destroyed them.

Some then abandoned every defense attempt and tried to run. They were followed, reached, and executed. Screams and falling bodies, that's all Link could see. And yet, he couldn't close his eyes. He lost control of himself. He realized he was not breathing.

It was just unnatural. This could not be happening!

But it was. And he could only look at it.

_Go down! Get down there and help them! Go get Aunt Lea and Uncle Tom and Dobb and Robbie and Master Curt!_, yelled a voice inside him. But he couldn't. He was just paralyzed.

At last, after what seemed an eternity, the screams ended. The riders met again in the center of the town. They came in little groups, talking to themselves. They were showing each other whatever goods they stole from the burning town. They were laughing. Link felt himself burning with rage at the sound of their laughter. They gathered together in the middle of the town, and their leader, the same man with the same terrible voice, screamed some words to them. They laughed again, and left, speeding out to the east.

The rain started again. Strong it was: a mighty storm. It started as abruptly as the last one left the village. It stopped the fire. The thunder of horses lost itself in the distance. The rain, which seemed to have just started, stopped again. No sound was to be heard.

Link got down from the tree. He was shivering, but not because of the cold. He walked to the fence, crossed the hole, and got again inside of the town. He waited there, standing, for what seemed like hours. The first lights of the morning gave everything an eerie look. What had happened here? Just a day ago, Kakariko had been a prosperous town. But now, in one night, it had turned into a graveyard.

Link started to move, to look around. There were bodies all over the streets, horribly mutilated. Link tried not to look at them. He thought he recognized some of them...

Suddenly one caught his attention. He stopped walking, but begged that his legs just kept on moving. He didn't want to stop and look at the cadaver, but his body would not obey his will. Some strange force was moving him. So he had to take every part of the dreaded vision. The eyes of the dead man were white. His face was just a mimic of pain. His body was a barely distinguishable form surrounded by a pool of blood.

Link kneeled next to him, thinking hard of what to do. Nothing. His mind was empty. He couldn't cry or say anything, or do anything. So he just stood there, watching the body. At last, with a vacillating voice, the words came out:

'Master Curt...'

And raising his head, he screamed to the heavens. He cried to the top of his lungs, a cry full of anger, fear, disgust, defeat... What next?

_Nowhere-to-go-what-am-i-to-do-what-should-where-is-what-happened-here-please-someone..._

He looked around. His vision seemed dark, obscured by suffering. And he saw it. There it was: the old dusty book. Master Curt must have had it with him when he tried to escape... He reached for it—

_«There it is! On top of those shelves! Maybe if I just... unngh... push... the... shelves... There you go! There you go! Boy, you are sure hard to find! Now you're down. So, come here. Wow. You look old. I just hope you're the right one... Ah! here it is... » _

The vision came unexpectedly, but seemed familiar. He couldn't care about what it was. But, yes, here it was: the same book from the vision, still old and dusty. He recognized it immediately. Opening the first page and reading the title was just not necessary, just a movement controlled by habit. As clearly as the vision he saw, he knew the name.

'The Book of Mudora...'

_«Aginah looked at me, his eyes glittering strangely. He didn't say anything for some time. He looked at me in wonder. And then he said with his voice full of... I don't know... excitement?_

'_The prophecy says, "The Hero will stand in the desert holding the Book of Mudora." If you have the Book of Mudora you can read the language of the Hylia People. It should be in the house of books in the village... You must get it! If you are the person who will be The Hero...' »_

And next to it was the flute. The old flute. The forest flute. But those names he had given to it were now also unnecessary. Once again, the moment he saw it, he realized he already knew it. It was unexpected. It was strange.

'And this... the Ocarina of Time...'

_To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3: The King and The Princess

Once again, I appreciate comments and suggestions.

**III. The King and the Princess**

The King sat silently on the empty throne room, watching the shadows roam along its cold columns. The throne room was empty, of course. Except for the rain pouring down on the windows, and the occasional flash of thunder, revealing the rage of the storm outside the castle, he was alone. Alone to himself and his own dark thoughts. His own memories tormented him. Millions of different answers roared inside him, tearing his soul appart. But the question was always the same: _how_? How could a millenary kingdom, whose glory shone like the very stars, how could that kingdom fail so utterly? How could a simple division, a simple disagreement develop into a revolution? And how could a simple revolution take down a whole kingdom? And how could——

'Sir?'

As any sound would, the voice seemed out of place in the dark room. As if any connection with the outside world disturbed its dead quietness.

'Sir?' asked the voice again, imperturbable.

The King raised his eyes to meet the newcomer. It was just Eiran. Just Eiran? How could a meeting in the middle of the night between the King and the Grand Marshall of Hyrule be qualified as a 'just Eiran'? It was not just Eiran: it was the beginning of the End.

'Greetings, Master Eiran,' said the King with a gloomy voice.

'Sir, I am here to give you my report.'

The King watched him without answering. He wondered how hard it would be. Bracing himself, he got ready for the worse.

'Give it to me, then,' he sighed finally.

'Well, it's actually as bad as things can get,' said Eiran. The King frowned. Taking no notice of this, the Grand Marshall continued, 'According to our scouts, the Enemy's main camp is currently located in Hyrule Field, near Rond Daer, just a league away from the Castle. We expect the siege to commence in, at most, two days.'

'Is their army already assembled, then? Are they ready to strike?'

'They're working on it. But I'd say they're pretty much done.'

'Really? Tell me about it,' said the King, worriedly.

'I know that a lot of the divisions they maintained guarding their previously conquered territories have been summoned to aid in the struggle for the Castle. I reckon they will get here in a few more hours. Three days at most.'

Yes, he was just Eiran. The Grand Marshall of Hyrule spoke firmly, his face never losing its formal serenity.

'Eiran... do you think we can defeat them?' asked the King in a pleading tone.

'I believe we can endure the siege for some time. Perhaps even months.'

'But ultimately...'

'Ultimately we will fall,' noted Eiran, matter-of-factly, not looking worried, or even disappointed. 'My men are weary, hungry, and many of them are ill. I have very few archers left, almost no cavalry, and only the City's permanent defense corps can fight properly. We just don't have enough men.'

The King sighed again. Well, that was it. Hyrule was falling. But – but why did it have to be during his years?

'What should we do, then?'

'There's nothing we can do, Sir,' said Eiran clearly. 'We can, of course, send some scouts to infiltrate the Enemy's camp, recollect information on their numbers, tactics... that kind of stuff. It's been done, and we could pull it again. We could also prepare some hit and run attacks with our undercover squads —using our mounted guard would be, in my opinion, a waste of men. But all that would just be useless, ultimately.'

'Understood,' said the King, defeated.

For a long while he remained silent.

'How could they do this, Eiran? How did they manage to defeat us?'

'It was not your fault, Lord. Nor was it, if I may say so, the fault of my men. The secret arts that have helped the campaign of our enemies over the last four years are still a mystery. It has been told that dark sorcerers—'

'No, Eiran. What I mean is – is – how could this happen? The fall of my kingdom, I mean.'

'Our kingdom still stands, Sir.'

'But not for long.'

'Sir,' began Eiran, carefully choosing his words, 'there was no way to stop these rebels. It's almost as if the very elements support them. Farore! I've been there, in the battlefield. There was just no way that our armies, our people, could resist them. This is no ordinary war, Majesty. There is a powerful will behind them. A will that can control rain, thunder, fog, smoke... Hyrule cannot be saved by mere numbers, because they didn't defeat us on numbers. We had an army ten times greater than theirs at the beginning of the war, from the disaster at Kakariko, up to a couple of months ago. But numbers have never been the point. The balance of power has always favored them.'

'Kakariko... when the war began. Don't you think it's too much? It's been too much. It's been too much time, too much fighting. They've been... what, four years, you said?'

'Almost, Sir.'

'A powerful will... Perhaps you're right, Eiran. In any case, I have no hope left. Call the Chancellor, I beg.'

'Surely, Your Majesty.' Eiran bowed low, and walked away.

The King lowered his glance again, and waited. Seconds seemed to last hours. The storm kept going. Presently, Eiran came back in, closely followed by the Chancellor. He was a tiny fat man, and seemed to be perpetually nervous.

'Our time is nearly over, friend,' said the King.

'Nayru and Din! Nay, Highness, do not speak such words,' said the Chancellor sadly.

'It doesn't matter anymore,' said the King darkly. 'Chancellor, do we have any updates on the position of our allies?'

'What allies, Lord? Alas! it seems we have been abandoned by all.'

'So it seems. But did we not send a message to all kingdoms, requesting aid? Were they all left without an answer?'

'An answer could have come,' pointed Eiran, 'and yet we could have not known it. Most of our territory is now in the hands of the rebels. Our communications, both towards the exterior and among us, are not reliable.'

Realization came into the King's mind. Desperation invaded him.

'Fine,' he said with the voice of one who faces dead, but is no longer affected by it. 'Let them come. We shall die by the fire. Eiran, prepare the Castle for the siege. Have everyone get inside the walls as soon as possible. Prepare our defenses in the best way you can think of. Arrange a scout group to investigate on the enemy's movements. Chancellor, I need you to arrange everything in the Castle to withstand the siege. We will need food, asylums where we can put people, and everything and anything else you can think of. I will meet you again shortly, to supervise our preparations. Please leave me alone now... for a while.'

Not daring to reply both of them bowed and left the King.

Hardly had the advisors left when the King heard a new sound. More footsteps echoed in the room.

'Mmhh? Who's there?' the King asked. Standing in front of him was Kal. The tall middle-aged woman was dressed as usual in the characteristic fit—blue uniform of her people. A complicated white design on her chest revealed her as one of the ancestral race of the Sheikah. That was Kal of the Sheikah, the personal bodyguard of the Royal Family of Hyrule. There she was, summoned by the King himself, to accomplish a mission that should never have been.

'I heard it all, Lord.'

'Kal, I've told you about announcing yourself and— ah, never mind. And you are here to ask me permission to leave my side, I suppose? I won't deny it to you.'

'I am here, my King, to follow my destiny, as I've always been. My people have always protected the Royal Family of Hyrule, and I will not be the one to abandon this sacred duty, entrusted to my race by the goddesses.'

'You are truly worthy of honor, Kal. But there is simply nothing you can do. You cannot save us, now.'

'But I _can_ save you. I can get you out of the castle, and take you to safety. But we must leave immediately. I cannot help you once the siege begins.'

'Are you suggesting me to abandon my people? I can't leave them to face their deaths alone! '

'Hyrule has never fallen completely into the hands of our enemies; so the legends tell. As long as the Royal Family endures, the kingdom will not be totally lost. Fear not,' said Kal, her eyes shining suddenly, 'fear not. I knew you would give me that answer. I know you can't leave the Castle to its future, be it dark or other. But we must try to save the Royal Family.'

'But then you are...' said the King, surprised.

'I am referring to Princess Zelda.'

'You want to separate us? You want to take her away from me?'

'My Lord, the Royal Family must live. I may be separating you from the Princess, but you must see that there is no other way. You can't leave the Castle, and you can't leave your people. And yet the Castle will most probably fall. If all the members of your family meet their end, then surely there will be no future to our land. But if one is saved...'

'Do you truly believe they are planning to kill me?'

'The legends of our history suggest so. Surely, Majesty, you must realize this is no ordinary war. Were it so, we would have defeated the enemy a long time ago. But there is something strange here. Farore! A _powerful will_ your general called it. It may be so. I believe we are living Times of Destiny. Times of Cataclysm.'

Again, the King remained silent for a long while.

'I don't understand your words completely,' he spoke at last. 'But you may be right. I'm afraid we are living through dark times. Where are you planning to take her?'

'Wake up, Princess.'

Zelda opened her eyes. She was in her room, and the room had no light. Trying to understand what was happening, she raised herself to a sitting position in her sheets. Turning left, she found Kal looking at her, her face being scarcely recognizable in the middle of the darkness that was wrapped the room.

'Kal, what are you—' she began with a sleepy voice.

'Princess, we must leave.'

'What?' she asked surprised.

'This place is no longer safe for you. We must leave. Dress yourself.'

'Where are we going?'

Kal didn't answer. Instead, she handed some clothes to the Princess. It was another uniform, just like hers, but fit to suit Zelda.

'We'll be leaving without anyone knowing it. You must dress as a Sheikah. Again.'

Zelda sighed, and began to put on the uniform.

Kal watched in sorrow as Zelda and the King exchanged their goodbyes. They were their last ones, probably. The King managed to be strong; the Princess couldn't stop her tears. They embraced tightly. They were in the throne room, again. While Zelda and the King spoke their last words, Kal headed to the end of the room. If the secrets devotely transmitted by her race were true, there should be a secret passageway at the back of the room. It had been built under the castle, and led to the woods eastward. And it was a secret way.

She found the door and smiled. Turning back, she realized the King and the Princess were at her side. She rose, and then bowed to the King.

'I have failed you, Majesty.'

'No, faithful one,' said the King, sadly. 'Your oath to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule will be fulfilled, if you save my daughter. And I thank you for it. I wish I could go with you. But now, come! There is no more time! Leave now. I have arranged a series of little skirmishes with the enemy. You should have a clear path.'

Without another word, Kal bowed again, took a torch from the wall with a hand, grabbed Zelda with the other, and went into in the tenebrous passage.

No one spoke for a while. Zelda felt a huge knot in her throat, and was afraid she'd start crying the moment she opened her mouth. Kal, on the other side, seemed to need the silence. She was trying to orient herself in the dark tunnel. It hadn't been used in ages. It was wet, and smelled like a rotten sewage system.

'This – this smells like a rotten sewage system,' said Zelda. She was trying to be firm, therefore maintaining her royal paper.

'This _is_ the rotten sewage system, _Sheik_,' answered Kal coolly.

There was another long silence. There were many tunnels to the sides. Kal would often stop to consider the way, and quickly reach a decision.

'Where are we going, anyway?'

'I'm trying to make it to the old graveyard,' said Kal. 'There is a secret entrance there to the deserted town of my people. If we get there...'

'Yes?' asked Zelda.

Kal didn't answer.

It seemed so long, Zelda was sure she would faint. They had walked for hours, and her feet ached terribly. But at last they reached a much worn out door. Kal took out a key and tried to open it. But after trying for a while, it didn't budge. She cursed in a low voice.

'Hold this and step back.'

Zelda took a few paces back, carrying the torch. Kal took some impulse, and gave the door a tremendous kick. She made this several times, and finally the door opened. It didn't open too much, actually. The moonlight filtered through the small opening. Kal took the torch from Zelda and turned it off.

'Wait here,' she said in a whisper. She went out the small gap.

Zelda waited a couple of minutes, alone in the dark, fighting against the cold night. Sheikahn uniforms were good and very useful for this kind of _explorations_, but they weren't too warm. At last Kal came back.

'We're clear. The old sanctuary's ruins have almost totally disappeared. There is a tree growing just outside the door. That is why I couldn't open it completely, but you can make it out. From now on, we're walking in the forest. Try not to make any sounds. The old graveyard is not too far. We should be there before the sun comes out.'

The Princess nodded and followed Kal out. The forest was dark, of course, but not as much as the tunnel. Moonlight and starlight helped them move relatively quickly, though it was a hard time for the Princess, getting between the branches and old leaves, trying not to make noise, and trying not to slip over the roots of the trees.

They went on for a good time. Kal must have thought they were very close to their destination, because she accelerated her pace.

And then, suddenly, voices. There were voices laughing. Out of nowhere, three men appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

They'd been found! Trapped in the middle of the forest. Kal cursed again. Goddesses! She had not expected this at all. She had planned to move quickly and not be noticed. And so she was weaponless; she only had a short knife with her. She threw a quick look around. Nothing. The trees' branches were too high to try climbing them —and even if there were branches low enough to climb, it would be nearly impossible to get the Princess to the top of a tree before they got them—, and there was no way they could escape three enemy soldiers —they were clearly enemy soldiers, judging on their uniforms. Zelda was fast and athletic, but not enough.

'Hand us the Princess and we might not rip off your limbs, sweetie,' grunted one of the attackers, the one that was closer to them and looked as the leader.

'There is no Princess here,' said Kal. 'You're just messing around with two Shadows.'

'Don't lie to us, stupid Sheikah. We know the Princess is with you. We have... _our sources_.'

Kal answered by taking out her short knife. 'Well then, if you think it's really her, come and take her yourselves.'

The three men laughed at her, and took out their weapons. The leader had a short sword; the other two were armed with long spears. Jesting between themselves, they tried to surround them, but Kal walked back, forcing Zelda to move behind her, until they were in front of a big tree. Their attackers moved into a triangular position around them.

'Okay, lady, you called for this. But of course, you must know there's no way you can take us three down.'

'I could kill you even before you finished blabbering,' said Kal coldly.

The leader didn't like her words, it seemed. He rose his sword menacingly, and brandishing it fiercely, he approached them, a threatening gesture in his movements, ready to attack. His minions followed him closely. Kal inclined a little, arranged to receive the attack. But then a voice resounded across the forest. It was a mocking, challenging voice.

'Didn't anybody ever tell you how you're supposed to treat a lady?'

Everyone turned to meet the source of the voice. No too far away behind the soldiers, a young man was leaning to a tree, his arms crossed. Even in the dark, his eyes shone strongly. He was all dressed in dark green, and even had a green hat. He wore high boots. A sword hung on his back. And he was grinning broadly.

'Maybe _I_ can give you a new lesson.'


	4. Chapter 4: The Shadow Folk

If you're patient enough to get to this point, I thank you truly. I don't know if this is getting boring, or dramatic, or just stupid. So, I'd appreciate if you'd let me know what you think. That's: please review! Again, I'd really appreciate it.

We're now five years after the first two chapters. Link is now seventeen years old, and he... Well, you'll see what he does on this one. Today's chapter: the meeting of the Hero and the Princess of Destiny. Kinda.

—Mister Brock

**IV. The Shadow Folk **

"The flow of time is always cruel...

Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it...

A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..."

The Seventh Sage in front of the Forest Temple

_There they are_, he noticed from his watching position on top of the tree. _Yup: one, two... ah! There's the third one. A sword, spears... don't look so— Hey! That's a— Let me se... Stupid branch... Yeah! That's a red one. Those are Red Guards! Hadn't seen one of those in... What're they doing here, anyway? _He smirked. _My, my, my. It seems the ol' Phantom here is attracting attention, now, isn't he? Special security forces?_

They were almost past the clearing. Moving like an experienced wildcat, he let himself fall into a lower branch and jumped to a close tree. He went on, jumping from tree to tree, moving ahead of them, concentration forcing his body to move in a perfect way, hardly making any sound. He got a little ahead of them, and waited.

_Humph. Can't learn a thing, can you? You can send the whole of the Red Guard. You can send a whole division after me. _Nothing _can stop the Phantom. But, oh no! Perhaps you need some more persuasion. Well, of course I can give you that. Gladly._

He carefully took out the bow from his back, and put an arrow on it. Maybe he could take out the leader before they noticed where he was... Maybe he could take out a second one!

_Yeah, right. And maybe I can kill the whole army without them even noticing. Stop dreaming, you overconfident, fat-mouthed cuckoo. To take even one, you'd have to be paying attention. So stop talking to yourself. OK, ok, I'm concentra—— Oh, come on! Where are you, guys? Come out here, you stupid red!_

But they weren't coming.

_They stopped? How come—_

He unloaded his weapon, put the bow back on his shoulders and moved again back the road he had taken. It was hard to see at night under the forest trees, but he had had quite some practice. His eyes thoroughly explored every inch of the ground.

There: there they were, under a great tree. They were standing beside it, without moving.

_Are they talking between themselves? No, no, no. They're sleeping. No, of course not. They're waiting. What for, we wonders? Oh, yes, we——_

Sounds. Footsteps. Whispers approaching. Someone ——_no, there's more than one_—— was coming. And it came into his mind at once: _it's an ambush! They're here to get someone! Of course, that explains the red... But, what, an ambush in the forest? There's no one... _

Even as he thought this, he had taken his bow out again. Presently, two figures came into his sight, moving quickly and without making too much noise. The one in the front was a tall, strong-looking woman. She moved almost crouching to the floor, swiftly taking in her environments. _But she won't get the Red Ones. They're too good——for everyone who's not me, that is, 'course._

Behind her, a smaller figure came, moving almost timidly. _Humph; inexperienced fool. 'Gonna get yourself killed if you don't learn to move more carefully_. _Hey!... Hey: they're both dressed in_... Yes, they were both wearing the sheikahn uniform, distinguishable on the front design. But the one on the back was also wearing some weird kind of scarf that covered the face...

_«'Let's get out of here,' Navi says as she starts moving away from the pedestal. I follow her slowly, watching me again and again, my hands, my feet... still amazed at, well, being big and all. It's kind of cool. I notice I have an earring. Wonder how that got there? Whatever. It must look cool. I feel cool. I think the first thing I'm going to do is try one of those beers back at Kaka———_

_Sound. There's someone behind me. Right, I'm being hunted here—-or will be, anyway. I stop. Then, unsheathing my sword, I turn around quickly, ready for anything, feeling my new muscles tightening into a fighting stance. Navi floats at my side, wondering what to do._

_He's just standing there. He doesn't seem to have a weapon... but let's just not judge this guy on the looks. He looks queer enough, with his face covered by a white scarf——which is nonetheless unable to hide his blonde hair from sweeping out wildly. He looks fast. But he doesn't seem to be preparing to fight... And, goddesses!, I don't like the look in his eyes. He looks like he knows too much. Hmmm... he kind of reminds me of Impa... same kind of weird uniform. Who's Impa?_

'_I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time... I am Sheik. Survivor of the Sheikahs...'» _

_What the— Sh?— Sheik!_, he repeated, coming out of the... 'flashback'. _Damn. Hadn't happened in a—— damn!_

As he came out of the strange dizziness that always accompanied his 'flashbacks', he realized the ambush was already on the way. The smaller figure was standing with his back by a tree, looking paralyzed and scared. Obviously, he was not a fighter. The bigger woman was on a defensive stand, in front of the other one, holding a small knife.

_Useless. _The red ones were surrounding them. The leader was about to strike, his broadsword raised.

_I'll never get an arrow on my bow now. Well, it seems I'm going to have to do this the hard way._

Cursing his stupidity, he jumped to the bottom of the tree.

_I need to distract their attention_.

'Hey!' he screamed, leaning on the tree, his arms crossed. _Yeah, back to my oh-so-hated sarcastic smile —— got a Phantom reputation to keep, right? _

They all turned around.

'Didn't anybody ever tell you how you're supposed to treat a lady?.'

_Heh. Those Reds have clearly no idea of what's going on. The woman —uh, Impa?— looks at me stricken with surprise, but then her eyes glint as she notices the sword on my back. And the other one —the 'Sheik' guy, or whatever— is staring at me with a very strange look—— which somehow makes me feel uncomfortable..._

_But, anyway, _this_ is what I call a dramatic silence. And I bet _that's _what they'd call a dramatic entrance. Let's keep it up!_

'Maybe _I_ can give you a new lesson.'

_The reds are now stupidly looking at me. Uh... OK: 'Stupidity' is too soft a word to name the expression on their faces, actually. Anyway, the leader is getting rapidly on top of things. He lowers his sword, and is now looking at me... I bet he's just realizing my age_, he smirked.

'It's too late to be in the forest, kid. Go home before we do something to you,' the leader of the Red Guards grunted.

_«'What're you doing up this late, kid? You can stay up when you're grown up! Now go home!' the guard screams at me as he pushes me with his spear._

_One day, I swear, I'm going to learn to fight and all that, and I'll be the greatest guard of the Royal Family, and then this creep is going to stop laughing at me... But he's right. What am I doing out here, actually? My Uncle told me to stay! It's raining! What's going on? I wish I knew. But I have to be here, I think. Just what're these voices? If I knew just that... Goddesses! Where's my uncle? »_

_Whoa! Another flashback? TWO IN A—!!!_

He put a hand on his head, as he fell on his knees. He was uncontrollably trembling.

'Feeling fine, kid?' laughed the leader.

Getting a grip on himself, he raised his face. He was smiling —trying to, at least— again.

'You're absolutely right, you know?' he said, always smiling.

And then, moving as fast as the wind, letting his arm grab the sword and become one with it, he gave a quick jump, and unsheathed it. The tip of the blade was barely a few inches away from the leader's chest now. The leader's face got pale. _Good_. _We've still got some charm here_.

'You're right. It's way too late,' _I'm not smiling anymore. My voice suddenly goes deadly serious. Rage starts building up inside me, again. I may have some fun hunting and scaring them, bust that's nothing comparing to my hatred for them. Nothing. They will pay, one by one_. 'But I have no home. You destroyed it. Burned it. And so, the only rest I've got now is to kill you lowlifes.'

The guard on the left was staring blankly. He had almost dropped his weapon. But the one on the right was still holding his own spear, vacillating.

'You're... you're...' he babbled.

'Yea, that's right,' he finished for him. 'I'm the Phantom. I'm the one who gets to kill you now.'

The leader looked at him, startled. '_You're_ the Phantom?'

'That's right. And unless——'

But he moved as fast as he had —_almost_. He jumped backwards and, raising his sword, yelled at his men. 'Get the kid! Kill him!'

Without waiting for a response, he raised his sword and brought it in a swinging arc, ready to receive the leader's blow. The blades met with a thunderous sound. Link held his sword, gave a tiny look to his sides, realized the two other guards where already moving, and with a huge effort managed to push the leader, taking him off his balance. Immediately, he ducked low. The guard on his right thrust his spear through the air where mere moments ago his head had been. Taking advantage of the guard's precarious position, he threw him a vicious punch. The guard gave a step back, confusedly trying to get to his feet again. Link looked to the place where "Impa" had been, but she was already ahead of him. Link barely saw a flash as the Shadow threw herself at the falling soldier, her knife moving wildly on her hand.

Link focused his attention on the guard on his left. He was paralyzed, and still didn't move. Then a rock hit him hard on the face. Must've been the smaller Sheikah. Link smirked, then remembered the leader, then looked back, then abruptly tried to jump left. The leader's sword managed to cut him on his right shoulder. He left the sword fall, terrible blasts of pain searing through his right arm. _Ow, ow, OW!_ He rolled to the left, and hit a tree. The leader was now walking at him, ready to administer the final blow. But then "Impa" came running, and rammed him heavily. He had no support and loosing his balance, fell to the floor on top of his sword. Impa threw herself on top of him, raised his head, and cut his throat.

Link was breathing heavily, dizziness growing on him. Someone came to his side.

'Are you okay', asked the smaller one. But the voice was too soft. Must have been a girl. Link managed to have a last look on her large blue eyes. She started to treat his wound, ripping his shirt and applying some kind of bandage to stop the blood. Link felt the pain flaming on his limb and moaned. And then all lights went out.

Now the memories of the Hero of Time are getting into the plot.

Mr. Brock


	5. Chapter 5: Waking is Worse

**V. Waking Is Worse**

**Part 1**

A golden moon lifts some of the Earth's darkness. But it is not enough. I'm alone, standing in a circle of strange light on the floor, but everything around me is jet black. Impenetrable blackness. My body hurts all over, and I'm thirsty and hungry. I don't know where I am.

I look around, but there's nothing there. No, wait: there is something. There's a little red dot in the distance. I run to it, stumbling occasionally over the rock that's blasted all over this filthy plain. That red light it's my only reference point. The red light grows larger and larger (which is strange: I'm not running that fast—I think), until it becomes an enormous sea of fire. Fire and flames engulf a savage wasteland. Columns of smoke rise into the black sky. Pandemonium fills my ears. This must be Hell.

And there He is. I can feel Him, like an unwanted yet inescapable presence. He knows I am here, too. I can see Him now, in the distance. Or is He looming over me? I can see His eyes, and smell His breath… I hate Him, and He hates me. Only His hatred is greater, more violent.

'Another time?' He asks. His voice is hideous, a very torment to my ears. He laughs at me. 'So you've come, too. It must be time again, then. Is She already with You?'

I don't know what He's talking about. I just want to get out of here, to stop listening to His voice, to stop His flaming eyes from looking at me, from scorching me.

'Leave me alone!' I scream with all my strength. He stops laughing. Actually, it seems like he gives a step backwards, as if my scream hit him like a punch. And I think I did hurt him. He's having trouble breathing, now. He's almost choking.

'I'm not strong enough… yet', He says. 'But I will be. And this time it will be different. You'll see. Nothing will save you now. Not Time nor Winds, nor Ocarinas nor magic birds. This time I _will_ destroy you.'

I turn backwards and run. But I know I can't escape. He laughs again, His laughter filling my ears as an unstoppable cascade. He laughs as the flames engulf me, and my body is slowly burned into ashes…

Oblivion.

**Part 2**

I wake up, my body full of sweat. _What the hell was that? What was that dark place?_ My senses are coming back now. My vision kicks in, along with a terrible headache. My hurt arm is burning like hell, by the way.

I'm lying in some sort of bed, made out of leaves and some rags of clothes. Looks like a cave. There's a small light, a candle, by mi side. I look at my arm: it looks well tended. Maybe those Sheikah dudes are not that bad. At least it looks like they know some healing stuff. At least better than me. Not that I'm that much of a healer, actually… That'd have to be ol' Vics. Wonder where old Vics is…

Anyway, that's enough chit-chat. I've got to get up, and see what's going on: where am I, and where the Shadows are.

'Don't move', I hear a voice behind me. I turn, only to find the big Sheikah a few steps away from me. She's sitting down, polishing her knife with a rock. 'Don't move; wait till it heals a little bit more.'

I must say that even if I hate to admit it, it's true. My arm hurts a lot. I throw myself back again on the "bed".

'What happened?' I manage to say.

'They're dead', she says coolly. I wonder if this woman ever feels something close to an emotion. 'I brought your sword, by the way. Nice blade. Where did you get it?'

'Oh, its cool alright. A great, funny and talking owl gave it to me.' I say sarcastically. She rolls her eyes. 'Hey, while we're on this conversation, would you mind telling me your name?'

'No.'

'Beg your pardon?'

'I won't tell you my name.'

'Hey! Whoddoya think—' I stop. It just came to me. I _know_ her name. 'OK, don't worry; you don't need to tell me your name. I already know it… Impa.'

Se drops her knife and, can you believe that? She actually went pale.

'What did you say?' she asks. 'How do you know that name?'

'Well, you see, I'm the ol' Phantom, and I know a lot of stuff. And I also know that Sheik guy coming with you.' I've barely finished saying the other one's name when I hear a small gasp behind. As I turn, I see her. She is still dressed in the white-blue uniform, but her face is now revealed. She is beautiful. Her long golden hair hangs lazily over her shoulders. And she has enormous blue eyes. They're blue as a summer sky. I could get lost in their——accckkkk!

That crazy Impa woman is strangling me!

'What do you know about us? How do you know about Sheik? Where did you hear the name of Impa?'

'I'dellu bod igans pik!'

'What are you saying?' she screams.

'He can't speak if you keep on strangling him,' the girl puts in obviously. Impa releases me, but she is still grabbing her knife dangerously.

'Thank you,' I say, rubbing my neck. Crazy Shadow. She has an iron grip. Note to self: don't challenge her to——

'So,' that's Impa again, always on her business tone. 'You were kindly going to tell us who you are and what do you know about us.'

'It's a long story, and I'm not in the mood,' I say. Actually, I'm a bit angry now. She's no one to surrender me to an interrogatory. Or choke me, for that matter. 'I'll tell you this: I have no idea of who you are. I met you because I was hunting three Red Guards, which happened to be planning an ambush on you. You were outnumbered, and you had, as I guessed from what I saw, to take care of her. She looks inexperienced (_a small humph comes from the girl, which is now standing in front of me, too; and I like the way she looks when she's angry_), so I decided to give a hand. That's all I know.'

'And what about the names?' asks Impa.

'You'd never believe me.'

'Try me.'

'I tend to have, uhm, dreams, flashes of old memories… It's just that… they're not mine. It's like I had access to someone else's memories. And in one of those memories, I knew you, Impa, and this Sheik guy appeared in front of me. Though I daresay I hadn't noticed what beautiful eyes Sheik has,' I say, and the girl turns pink.

'Alright kid, lay down,' says Impa. 'I'm not satisfied with this explanation. No one but those familiar with Sheikahn traditions could know of Impa's name. Her memory is one of our most revered—'

'I'm sorry? Did you say _her memory_?'

'Yes, I did.'

'Then you're not Impa?'

"Impa" looks strangely at me, as if wondering if I am playing with her. Finally, she lets go of her frown. 'I don't know why, but I trust you. So I'll tell you this. My name's not Impa, of course. Impa was a great leader of the Sheikahs; but she lived so long ago that her name is now just a memory. We might not even remember it, even we Sheikahs, treasurers of lore: of such old times was she. And yet, in her honor, and of her deeds, since her every leader of the Sheikahs receives the title of "Impa". Or, at any rate, received it. We Sheikah have never been numerous, but now we've almost disappeared. I myself am the last fighter. A few others live in some dwelling of which I will say nothing.'

'Uh-huh, ok. So, you're not Impa.'

'No.'

'And so your name is…'

'Don't push your luck, kid.' She looks at my exasperated face. 'Oh, fine, I'll tell you; my name is Kal.'

'Kal? What kind of a name is that?'

'It's a short-form… of Kallie.' She says carefully.

'Of course not,' says the girl, grinning, 'it is a short form of Kallendera.'

'Princess,' begins Kal with an irritated tone, 'I've told you—'

Princess? Did she just say Princess?

'Whoa! Wait a minute! Princess? Did you just say Princess?' I look at her in awe. Is this girl the Princess? Actually, she really looks noble. The girl nods and makes the tiniest of courtesies.

'Yes, I am Zelda, the Princess of Gold, daughter of King Gere of Hyrule.'

Wow…

**Part 3**

It's night again. Somehow, Kal went out and found something to eat. I know where we are now. It seems they managed to carry me to the old graveyard by the ruins. There Kal found a secret passage to an underground basement, or something like that, used by her race. Crazy Sheikahs and their love for death… Anyway: she didn't tell me, of course, where this secret entry is (a bad thing: such a hideout might have come in handy). She's hinted there might be some tunnels that connect this place with the old Sheikahn city, buried deep within the grounds where the old Kakariko village was.

(Then again, I didn't even know there was an older Kakariko. This must be old. This explains why this place is disgusting. And it stinks. It smells like, like… dead.)

And now we're having a nice dinner. I don't know what meat we're eating, but it tastes nice. I asked Kal, but when I thought I heard something like _waot_ (I so hope she didn't mean _wangot_, a very ugly kind of rat), I decided to remain ignorant on the matter.

'So,' Kal says, 'you were telling us about these visions…'

Darn. 'No, I wasn't.' She's looking angry again, better do something. 'Look, there's nothing there, OK? I just have… visions. It's like… sharing memories.'

'Of different people?' asks Zel. She doesn't know I call her Zel, though.

'No; from what I've seen, it looks as if there were always the same two people. And both are called Link, like me.'

'Your name is Link? Not Phantom?' Zel asks, her eyes going wide.

'No, Phantom is not my name. Link is. Why?' I inquire. Zel and Kal eye each other suspiciously.

'Link,' Zel says, and she looks like she's choosing her words very carefully, 'in those visions, have you ever seen something like a Sword? A mighty Sword?'

'Well, I've seen Ocarinas and books and monsters and fairies and mountains, and a strange flying fish, and a crazy extendible hook, and a funny mirror. And of course, there's this horrible blue fairy, which never shuts up… And there's a weird old owl. And yes, I suppose I've seen swords. The one that looked _mightier _must have been the Master Sword, I guess. But there was this great broadsword made by a funny giant, I liked that one…'

They're paying no attention to the last words. They look stunned. 'Did you say Master Sword?'

'Well, yes. Why?'

'How do you know the name? How do you know the Sword?' asks Kal.

'Ok, calm down, ok? I've seen the Sword and I just know it is it. And I've checked it, on the Book.'

'What book?' this time, Zel is almost screaming.

'The Book of Mudora, of course. I keep it.'

'You have the—'

OK, if they want to see it, I'll show it to them. Maybe that will keep them quiet. I lift my tunic; on the back of it there's a small hidden bag, which I carefully take off. It has many things in it, neatly packed. There's the Ocarina of Time, the Book of Mudora, some red rupees… The girls look like they've just won the lottery and Zel throws herself at——

'Hey, take your hands of it, your Worshipfullness!'

'Link!' Zel tells me with shining eyes, 'do you know what this is?'

'Of course I know. Duh. It's the Ocarina of Time.'

**Part 4**

'Link,' says Zel. 'Kal and I have been talking to each other.' Blast, I was having such a nice nap, and a dream where I was fishing… Aaaahhh, fishing. And now in comes Zelda-lass waking me up. I am not pleased.

'Hmph, more like, when have you ever stop—'

'_And _we think there might be more in this than you think.'

'Howsat?' I ask, rubbing my tired eyes. And my neck hurts. Crazy Sheikahn sleeping customs.

'You know about this enemy, Link. You know it's not a normal army. For years we've been fighting it, and being defeated, no matter what. We think the explanation is not merely natural anymore. We think there may be something greater here. We think we're on a time of crisis...'

Blah, blah, blah. Here we go again.

'…not normal… you know how many times…'

I _know _this already, ok? I know they're demons, I know they control the weather, I know they're hardly more than five hundred, I know all of this. I know their powers are unnatural. I know it. Can't she stop talking?

'…so you must have thought, just like us…'

The worst thing is pretending to be paying attention to this. Oh well, one can always admire a beautiful lady in front of him, no matter what she's saying.

'…it has made us remember of the Imprisoning War and the Great War…'

Truly, she still looks _very_ pretty when her— Huh? What was that?

'…heard of it, the thief-no, Ganon…" Those words trigger something, er, inside me… Like, something is bubbling up in my brain and—

'Aaaaarrrghhhh!' the pain is unbearable! I can see Him again… flashes, hundreds of shards of strange visions, red hair, black eyes, pig face, enormous, strong, he flies, a dark horse, raining, thunder, laughter…

'Link!' Zelda is holding me. I'm on her lap. Must've fainted.

'Ganon…' I whisper. I think I can hear the echo of His laugh in the distance… And then, again, blackness comes.

**Part 5**

'So,' finishes Zelda, after I've woken up and she's gone over all this with me again, 'we think this may be the time of a Great Cataclysm.'

_Cataclysm. Cataclysm. Cataclysm…_

_«The maiden's crystal flows in front of me, like always. I smile, happily. It was horrible this time. This Mothula guy, and that horrible ghost-hand, and the whole damn Skull Palace! Blasted old cursed forest. I gently lay down on the cold stone floor. And then I take out one of my bottles, with a fairy in it. The fairy comes out and happily tends my wounds, while the maiden in the crystal seems to grow larger, and I hear her sweet voice…_

'_Link, I thank you for saving me!'_

_You've got that right, girl. It was a pain in the—_

'…_for it, Link. Do you know the prophecy of the Great Cataclysm? This is the way I heard it..._

_If a person who has an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear... and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm. If the evil one destroys the Hero, nothing can save the world from his wicked reign.'_

_Tell me about it. So, I'm alone against Him, right? _

_Alone against Ganon… all alone…»_

"Alone… all… Ganon… no!'

I'm on the floor again, but I quickly stand up. Zelda and Kal are looking at me, bewildered. I can't stop me from throwing them a hateful glance.

'No! NO! I don't know who you are, or what are you doing to me, but this is wrong! Leave me alone! ALONE!'

And I take off running. I don't know where I'm going. I just saw a tunnel and went through it. The floor is irregular, but I don't care. I keep going. Some torches illuminate some passages, but I don't want light. I hate it. I want to be alone, alone. I take on a dark corridor. Suddenly, the floor fails before me, and I fall into an abyss. I don't know how long or how much I fall. Maybe a second, maybe an hour. More memories are trying to come up to my consciousness, but I hit the floor. Pain is back. And then, the sweet feeling of nothingness. And nothing more.


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations, Unwanted Kind

**VI. Revelations of an Unwanted Kind**

'So, are you ready to leave?'

It's her again. Zelda. _The Princes_. I don't want her to see me. I don't want anyone to see me. And I don't want to see anyone. Can you believe them? Hey, Link: we're on the verge of chaos. It's Cataclysm's Eve! And, hey, guess what? You have the memories of the greatest heroes of Hyrule! Maybe you can save the world! Rubbish. Hyrule is lost. It was lost way back, long ago. When the war began…

I can still hear the screams. They never leave you, you know? Excruciating experiences have a more lasting effect on kids than on adults. War is like this. For an adult, seeing a cadaver is like carving something in water: it goes away. But the kid's soul is just not like water. It's like wax. You see a dead man, and you never stop seeing him. And his empty suffering eyes…

We can't win. I've been having my revenge for years, now. And how many have I killed? A dozen? And I've killed regulars: infantry and some Red. Not even one of the weather-controlling freaks. I'm not good enough to kill them all. I can't defeat an army full of those monsters. And I fear their leader, that accursed scar-face general. I hate him. General Kane, I will have your head. Sigh. I cannot fool myself. He's _way_ out of my league.

But these girls will just _not_ believe it. According to them, Hyrule has three days, before the enemy begins to siege the castle. And guess what? They want me to save Hyrule. They think I can do it in three days. Tough luck, girls. Not even a Phantom can do that.

'Sure, I'm ready to go there and bring 'em pendants to you. Certainly. Definitely, in no doubt: anytime. How many do you want? Eight? A dozen? Three hundred?'

Zel frowns, and guess what? I don't care. Oh, did I mention that? They want me to get Pendants. They want me to get the Three Magical Pendants of Virtue. The Honorable Pendant of Courage of the Hylian Knights, the Advantageous Pendant of Wisdom of the Wise Men of Hyrule, and the Potent Pendant of Power from the Rulers of the World. Crap.

So, this is _the plan_: Kal will take us to Sheikah City, or whatever. There we are supposed to find the location of the Pendants. Someone there must know, according to her. _Then _we are supposed to find these millennially-unattended stones. _Then _I'm supposed to find the Master Sword. Apparently, if I'm good enough to find three pendants that were lost some hundred years ago, it should be just a piece of cake to find a Sword that was lost thousands of years ago. Give or take some centuries.

'It's not funny, Link. Without those Pendants - Hyrule is lost…' Zel tells me. She looks sad. But I don't care. I'm angered.

'And how are those things supposed to help us, Princess? Given that we actually find them first. Given they _actually exist_! Hyrule's lost! That's not really news, is it? We've known that for years now!'

'We _have _to find them. Link, don't you understand?' My face obviously shows a great negative, because she frowns. 'These… _visions_ you're having, Link, they're not normal. And the fact that they belong to other Links, who happen to be Heroes of Hyrule, doesn't look like a coincidence to me. You must be able to get this Pendants, which will prove you are the Hero, and then you'll be able to get the Master Sword…'

'Wow, wow, wow, wait a minute. Who said anything about heroes? I'm not a hero, and I'll never be one. You're just dreaming, Princess. '

'I've told you, _Link_, it is no coincidence…' Ok, she has a point in there. Really: I'm having memories of the deeds of the Hero of Time and of the Cataclysm Hero. Both were _Links_. I'm a Link. Hyrule is again facing darkness. Then, am I supposed to be a Hero, too? This is way too heavy. I don't know anything about being a Hero. I'm just a Phantom.

I'm just a Phantom. I mean: the fact that I'm named Link is just a coincidence, right? I mean, just think about it: there are a lot of Links. Why, I heard of one who… uhm… okay, no, that would be the guy with Navi. But there's this _other _Link who… fought Agahnim. You know what? I think I'm losing here.

But then why me? Ok, there are not so many Links out there. I actually only know of me and the Heroes. But is that it? Is it everything just a matter of sharing a name? I frankly believe it's ridiculous. What if my father was named Link? Would he be the Hero then? What if they chose to call me Dobb instead of Link? Er— right, that would really be disgusting.

Sigh. Imagine: I actually miss Dobb. He was fat and ugly (okay, conceded, not all of us are gifted) but he was funny… sometimes. Why can't he still be here? Why can't _he _be the hero? Why must it be me? Is it because I'm Link and I was saved from the end of the town out of casualty? Is it because I found the Book of Mudora and the Ocarina of Time? Is it because I rescued the Princess? Is it because I learned how to fight on my own?

Does that mean that I _am _actually _the _Link? Is there only one Link, spawned again and again all over throughout history? That really doesn't sound good. It would mean… Hell, I don't know what it'd mean. It'd mean that my existence is not actually an existence, but rather it is a repetition of existences. Does that make sense? Is that the meaning of destiny?

Is this so because of destiny? Is there even such a thing as destiny? I don't know. I don't get it. Maybe there is. Everything seems to suggest that. _But I don't want it_. I mean, according to _destiny_, things would go like this: I have a lot of… luck and gifts, and now I'm supposed to use them to save Hyrule. But that only takes us back to the old rocks and swords. Can they really be found? I insist: they're crap. They must be. Maybe the Goddesses are just no good at making these kinds of decisions.

Maybe I'm destined to be another kind of Hero. Or maybe all this hero things are senseless.

But then again, what about the _visions_?

It makes me shudder just by thinking about it.

'…them, please?'

'Pardon me?' Zelda is angry again. Maybe I should begin listening to her.

……………………………..

'Could you pass me the water, please?'

'Of course I can, Princess. But I don't think it is really a yes or no question. I bet _it's my destiny_, right?'

'Oh, come on already!' the Princess tiredly says. 'Can't you stop that destiny thing of yours?'

'No, I can't! Because every time I want to claim my life, here you come again, with my destiny behind you. It's not "my destiny thing", but yours. I was so very happy just hiding and having fun, and then _you _came around saying it's my destiny to win or die trying to save Hyrule from an _unstoppable _force. Is that what I am? Destiny's pawn?'

'No, of course you're not that. You know it. And you know they're not unstoppable.'

'So I am free to give you the water on my own? No goddesses ruling this action?'

'Yeah, no, whatever,' she exclaims, defeated, her head between her hands.

I pass her the bottle, grinning happily. 'Help yourself, your Majesticityness.'

But then she lowers her hand just somewhat, and there's an unexpected glint there in her eyes. She looks at me, and there she goes looking sad again. 'The true Hero would not despair.'

I look at her. I don't really know what to say. Have I any hope left? Right away I'd tell you that I don't. There's no hope left. But let's not go so fast. I've dedicated my entire existence to kill those guys. Why do I do that if I'm hopeless? Maybe there's no hope, but I can hear it, deep down: it's an urge. There's an urge inside of me to continue, no matter what. It's an aggressive spirit, some kind of voice, and it's always yelling me: don't stop, don't you ever stop.

«_NO! I cant' move. He must have done something to me. I can just watch in awe as Zelda disappears in a blast of light. No, no, no, no, no! I've come all this way and now… NO! _

_It's too late. Curses! How could I be late? Then I look at him. My face must be spreading out anger, irradiating it, but he just looks at me and smiles. Curse you, Agahnim. I will get you for this._

'_Ho ho ho...,' the beast is laughing! 'With this, the seal of the seven wise men is at last broken. It is only a matter of time before evil power covers this land... After all, the legendary Hero cannot defeat us, the tribe of evil, when we are armed with the Power of Gold. Ho ho ho... Now, I must go!'_

_And he disappears. Now I am really angry. _

_Maybe he's right. They have the Triforce after all. What can I do? What am I? I'm nobody, I'm just a kid. And I'm here just because I didn't listen to my uncle…_

_But I won't loose. It doesn't matter if I'm a Hero or if I'm legendary. None of that matters. There's only one thing that matters: Zelda. I will bring her back. I will save her. Hero or not, Sorcerer or not, _I have_ the Master Sword. And it's time Agahnim feasts his eyes on it._

_I charge after him. The wall is a trick. Behind it there's another room, a bigger one. He is in there. He looks a little startled to see me. He turns and I can see his eyes. They're empty. They're looking towards the infinite, like those of a madman. But I have the strange feeling that they're also looking at me. Urgh._

'_Oh so?... You mean to say you would like to be totally destroyed? Well, I can make your wish come true!'_

_Just some days ago, I would be afraid of him. Just some days ago, I would fear his empty eyes and cruel voice and imposing figure. Right now, it doesn't matter. I unsheathe the Master Sword and stand ready. He eyes it suspiciously. Yes, look at it, you miserable rat; look at this blade, for it will be your Bane. I'm not afraid anymore. I won't stop. I don't care if the greatest sorcerer ever threatens me, I have this Sword and I will break him._

_Agahnim takes a step backwards, and begins chanting. I'm not going to wait, though. Raising the Sword, I rush forward screaming a battlecry…»_

Wow… that was… unexpected. Ow! Zelda is slapping my face!

'…me, Link? Are you? Link!'

'Stop it! Okay, okay! I'm here; you don't have to hit me!'

'I'm sorry,' she says, 'but your eyes went white and you… you started muttering incoherent phrases.'

'Really?' I'm intrigued: I didn't know I spoke during those visions. 'What did I say?'

'Things like: No, she's gone, and, He's going to pay, and then you just started to grin smugly and move your hands as if you were lifting something, and all you would say is: The Master Sword… Link, you saw the Master Sword!'

'Yeah, I saw it, I think.' There's something going on inside me. I saw the Master Sword. And I _felt _the Master Sword. These visions are increasingly becoming a greater part of me. I want that Sword. But it doesn't exist! Or does it? It does. It _does_ exist. I _know_ it… I think.

'I need to clear my head,' I manage to say. Zel is looking at me, worried, I think. Why is she worried? It's not like… Hey! _Zelda_. A brief vision of Him comes to my head, and I moan. But he mentioned a woman… _Is She already with you?_ Could it be Zelda?

'Hey, Princess, you're a Zelda!'

Her face turns from worrying to paling, to frowning. 'Yes, I'm a Princess, and I'm Zelda. We knew that. I don't understand anything of being _a _Zelda, though.'

'But can't you see?' I say, 'Every Link has a Zelda to protect, to defend. Somehow, Zelda and Link are always connected. Link has to save Hyrule, and he can only do that, in some way or another, through Zelda. So I'm——' er, suddenly, the _cosmic_ implication of what I'm saying hits me, 'That is, if any of this is more than just rubbish.'

She just grins at me. Damn. I like it when she grins.

'Ok, stop that now, your Princessfullness.' Her grin broadens. 'Look, I'll do it, okay? I'll go with this and do whatever you want. Just leave me alone.'

I get up from the "table" (more like a piece of old wood that, like everything else in this cave, seems… _dead_, I guess) and begin pacing around the room. Kal is in a corner, chewing an apple or something, her knife at her side. She's looking at me sarcastically, as if I was a little kid that's just learning his way around nobility. _Nobility_. That word is so funny, when you think of it, but I don't think this is the time. Finally, I can't take her look anymore, so I just sigh and move close to her, sitting in the ground.

'So, what's the plan again?' Crazy Sheikah, she's still looking at me like I was some sort of Kiki monkey. An ironic smile is barely contained in her lips as she chews on the apple.

'So now you're ready to go, then?'

'Well,' I frown now, a bit irritated, 'if I ask you what's the plan to move out of here, I believe you can assume I am considerably willing to give it a try.'

'Good,' she says. Se throws away whatever she was eating and looks at me with her business face again. 'We move out as soon as the sun goes down, so we have about two hours or more. I would advise you to rest. I've been checking the tunnels around this cave and most of them are useless, and the others turn around so much it would take us days to get to the place I'm heading for. So, this is the plan: we move out to find another tunnel that's closer to old Kakariko village, and we continue to the undergrounds from there. I am assuming,' she goes on, her eyes getting narrower, 'that you can be trusted, and you will not reveal any of our positions to anybody, right?'

I laugh, and she's startled. 'Yeah right,' I said, 'like I have _anyone _to talk about these things with. Sure, I know a couple of weirdoes here and there, but I don't really trust them. A whole army of freaks is looking for me, after all. I wouldn't want anybody to know too much about me. It's too dangerous. Besides,' I finished with a grin, 'I saved your life and you saved mine. That sort of connects us in an honor way, doesn't it?'

Kal is looking at me so seriously I am getting a little bit nervous. Then, all of a sudden, she stands up, and I have to do the same.

'You _are _the Cataclysm Hero,' she says in a tone so solemn I feel quite weird. 'Now I can see it. And I, Kallendera, Impa of the Sheikah, Protector of the Royal Family of Hyrule, forever swear you the aid and the life of my people. May we always aid your quest, be it by our life or dead.' And then she bows.

What the hell is going on? And, to make matters worst, no memory flashbacks this time. This was absolutely new. I don't now what is happening. But then Zel comes forward, after seeing this display. She looks quite serious too. She comes close to me and mutters in my ear, 'You have to answer her. Solemnly. And use your title.' I tried to ask her what she meant, but she was already too far away for a whisper, and I felt embarrassed to ask out loud. So I sighed again.

'And I, er, Link of Hyrule,' I look at Zel and… she's mouthing the word "hero". I frown, but there's nothing else I can do except go on, 'I, Link of Hyrule, Hero _of Time and Winds and Cataclysm Hero_,' these words came out of me without my intention, 'accept the allegiance of the Sheikah, of whom I am proud to be worthy of honor.'

Then Zelda, to my surprise, started talking. 'And I, Zelda, the Princess of Gold of Hyrule and a member of the Royal Family, witness and accept these allegiances between the Sheikahs, Protectors of the Royal Family, and the Hero of Hyrule.'

Kal straightens back up and looks at me. There was a new way in her look, like she suddenly expects me to start giving her commands, or something. It is really queer.

'Well, Sir?' Kal asks.

'Huh?' is all I manage to say.

Zel looked like she was going to burst out laughing at any moment. 'Link,' she says, 'Kal, the Queen of the Sheikahs has officially accepted your lead. Given that you _are _the Hero of Hyrule, we're both positive you outrank her. She has swore an oath to protect me, but, er, so have you, sort of. So now she has to follow your lead. Did you get anything I just said?' she asked, looking at my clueless face.

'Uhm,' I tried, 'a little, I guess. So, she is the Queen of the Sheikahs? You never said that before.'

'We are Sheikahs. We are secretive,' Kal said. 'We don't just run around telling everyone who our King or Queen is, making him, or her, an easy target.'

'Oh, ok. And what do you mean I swore to protect you?'

Zelda blushes fiercely. And hey, I like that. 'Well, as Hero of Hyrule, one of your sworn duties is to protect the Royal Family, which has been chosen by the goddesses.'

'But just wait here. Who said I was the Hero of Hyrule?'

'You did,' said Zelda. 'You just sealed a sacred oath in which you accepted to be the Hero of legend.'

I just knew my mouth was hanging open. I don't know how I managed to get it closed, but the same thoughts were still on my mind even after we went out of the cave and slowly, cunningly, made our way to the old remains of the village.

Kal was leading and I was taking the rear.

'_I'm trying!_' Zelda whispered angrily as I asked her for the umpteenth time to please stop making so much noise. Right, she's trying. I don't understand why she even insists on wearing that sheikah costume. Even a dumb cuckoo would guess she is a clumsy Hylian. A beautiful clumsy Hylian Princess, that is. A beautiful, charming, blue-eyed, astonishing…

'We're here,' Kal says, breaking my sweet line of thoughts. I mean… Damn, Link! You're the Phantom! You didn't even realize we were there! We're at war! You can't drop vigilance!

Right, right. So I look up quickly and take up my surroundings. We are deep into the forest, so full of trees sunlight hardly comes through. Zelda is resting sitting on the ground, her back on a tree. She is looking up, but her eyes are closed, deep in concentration… or, er, maybe just exhausted. Kal is crouching, looking around. And sniffing. Don't ask me, she seems to do that a lot. I notice there are ruins all over the place. My instincts immediately take over. I choke a yelp shutting Zelda's mouth with my hand as I shove her behind a tree and crouch along her.

'When your guide is doing some field recon, you stay hidden.' She looks at me indignantly but manages to nod.

'And where are you going?' she whispers as I start to get up. I smile at her.

'I am going to help her.'

She stares in amazement as I effortlessly climb to the top of the tree. Which is nothing, really: the tree is so full of branches I believe even fat Dobb could climb it. Maybe she's just impressed because I'm being so fast. The thought brings out a new type of scorching mirth inside me. I hope she thinks I'm fast. I hope she thinks I'm cool. I hope she—

'Eeeeeeek!' I scream waving my arms as I fall down. I missed a branch! And I wryly and almost absentmindedly notice that I'm screaming like a girl.

'Link!' that's Zel.

'Fool,' that's Kal.

I don't know how I could hear them, but I did. And I landed very roughly on the floor.

'Link, are you okay?' Zel asks as she rushes over to where I fell and cradles my head in her lap. As I slowly open my eyes and look at her worried face, I cannot help to feature a stupid smile in my face.

'Are you okay, Link?' she asks again, only to be stopped with a gasp. I suddenly feel it too: dread starts building up inside me and I jump up again with a fright. Zelda is still on the floor, shaking her head with her arms. I look around frantically, and I see them. They are three and they are coming at us from a thick line of trees East of us. They are hideous, rotten corpses walking. Their eye sockets are empty, and they sound of their breathing freezes me to the bone.

Kal has immediately stepped before me and Zelda, covering us, and for a moment I can feel the effect of the zombies' fear diminish.

'You cannot pass,' Kal says in a commanding voice. 'I am the Impa of the Shadows and these two are under my protection. You must go back to the shadows now. Protect the graveyard, protect the Shadows. Forth, you cannot pass.'

The zombies stopped abruptly, and stood still, as if considering the situation. One of them slowly raised a decrepit hand and I let out a scream as I am suddenly ripped of my sanity. I am breathless. I am nauseated. Everything feels suddenly cold, and the sunlight seems to die until only mere glimpses of light can be seen through the thick tree canopy. Kal seems paralyzed, and is anxiously trying to speak, achieving only muffled noises. Zelda seems to have fainted.

Desperately I try to stop the screams in my head: screams that take me back to that horrible day of fire and dead, the day I stopped being a boy, the day I became so enraged that my life turned upside down and I became a Phantom. Rage gives me strength, I think, and suddenly the effect of the zombies calms down. I am infuriated. I hate them. I hate those memories and those dark riders that destroyed my home. I hate the way my life has gone. I hate these creatures. With a maddened yell I charge forward, and my sword comes out in a flash. A strong blow falls on the head of the first zombie, and he hits the floor with a sickening thump.

I turn around to face the one on my left and swing my blade above my head. With another scream I let it flow in a deadly arc across his chest, but he is fast and avoids it with a sort of back flip. Momentum takes my arms as I desperately try to stop my sword. The other zombie takes advantage of this and jumps on me. I can smell his rotting hands and decaying breath as his mouth searches its way to my throat. If he bites me, I know, I may become one of them. I don't know.

I won't wait to find out. His move having enraged me even more, with a swift crouch I throw him off me. He falls to the floor off balance, and I take benefit of my position to stab him on the ground. With repulsive easiness my sword cuts through him and he moves no more. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the other one making his way towards me, and speedily stand up, sword at ready.

He stops for a moment. It is a moment too long. Just as he is planning on what to do, I throw my sword with al my strength at him. It skillfully strikes his chest, sending him flying backwards, and impaling him to the ground.

They stop moving. Sunlight strikes again to the trees, and as it hits them, their bodies start burning with a sickening hiss. Flames rage over them as they disappear. I fall on my knees and lower my head trying to recover my breath.

'Are you alright?' Zel asks worriedly as I feel my hand on her shoulder. I look at her and she gives a step backward, scared of my blazing eyes, full of hatred. I hate her… or do I? At her frightened factions all my hate seems to vanish.

'Are _you _okay? I manage.

'Yes, it's just you looked so…'

'They killed my family. Kakariko is now full of them too. My own family and friends may have become like them,' I say sadly, and I cannot stop my tears flowing. 'I hate them. I will stop them, Zel. For Hyrule. For your family. For you.'

She smiles softly and embraces me, and I start sobbing on her shoulder. Life, sometimes, is just hell.


	7. Chapter 7: Into the Dark

**VII. Into the Dark**

Note: You may have sometime stumbled upon a great site called zeldalegends (add dot net and you've got it). In the section called "Articles" seek for n. 20: "Creation of the Dark World". I'm not the author and I don't know the author, but his article, I believe, explains a lot. And yet it _is _actually a weird exegetical account. I have also quoted a big part of his articles 6, "The Sleeping Zelda, Revisited".

It doesn't really matter that much, because at _this_ time, in the story, all those ancient legends of Hyrule are almost forgotten. And the actual truth of the Triforce and those chosen by Destiny is far more interesting than those old confrontations, only pieces of the Great Cycle. Endnote.

_**Begin**_

Sheikah City. I am officially, I think, the first non-sheikah to ever visit this place. Er, after Zel.

Whatever its real name is (Kal told me, but its frustrating just trying to pronounce it), it is a real experience. Not because there's really all that much you can actually see. The "city" itself is just a series of tunnels. Well conditioned and illuminated, and it smells almost nice… not like death, anyway… but they are still tunnels. It is a cavernous city. Hey, I like that. I'll call it from now on Cavernburg. Somehow, it sounds just right.

"That's because I already told you the name _is _Cavernburg," Kal points out. Damn. I still don't realize if I'm only thinking stuff or if I actually say them out loud.

"Well, maybe if you just pronounced it correctly, I would have gotten it."

She doesn't even bother to look back. She's walking ahead, as usual. She is always showing the way. I suppose as the Leader or the Impa—or whatever—of these guys she's the Boss around here.

Some guards at the entrance just looked at her and let us pass with no further questions. They were giving us some weird glances, on the other hand, and I swear they can speak to themselves just by looking at each other.

Crazy Shadows.

"Stop mumbling and move it, kid," Kal again. She's been cheery like these since the encounter with the Redead Zombies of the Order of the Crazy Cuccos (two days ago, that was). Zel smirks every time I give them a name like this. And I like that. But I can tell Kal is not happy. From what I've been able to gather (and that took me roughly the whole following day of our great travel) they weren't even supposed to let us see them.

"_They_," Kal told me, with the usual solemn voice she always uses when she's speaking about something _important_, and which I've come to think is a fake voice she only uses to annoy me, "are the Guardians of our sacred grounds".

She wasn't too pleased when I said it figured that an old, ugly deserted graveyard is an important place for them. It took me nearly an hour to make her even look at me again. Anyway, Redeads guard places important for the Sheikahs. Normally their mere presence is sufficient for anyone to feel them and flee, and very rarely do they let someone see them. Much less attack them. What's even stranger, she told me, is that they are sort of slaves of the Sheikah. They should have stopped when Kal asked them to do so. But they didn't. And Kal doesn't know what that means, and she's not happy.

Back to Cavernburg. Crazy shadow name.

We have stopped walking through tunnels, I can see, and are reaching the actual caverns. They are bigger. Mostly they seem to be meeting points for various tunnels. Kal efficiently leads us through them.

There are _many _Sheikahs around here. Kal obviously lied when she told me she was one of the last. There are men and women. There are old men and small children, all dressed in pure black cloth. I suppose Zel and Impa's blue uniform with silver designs are a symbol of leadership. I have only seen two others wearing those in the city. It figures: they were walking in front of small groups of people. They all move rapidly and it seems no one has time to stop and spare a few words. The place is not silent, but I have not heard human voices. Besides Kal's. And I'm not sure she's human.

She looks back at me darkly. Oops, I was talking out loud again. I may just have to learn to shut my mouth.

"We're almost there, Hero," I don't know how, but she manages to make my, er, _title_ sound like an insult. And yet she's right, as usual. In a couple of minutes we pass two great caverns full of people whispering to each other in small groups and moving around with frenzy, descend some gigantic staircases, which seem to take us to more nobler parts of the Burg, cross more tunnels, now more elegantly decorated, and reach a small cavernous hall with a lot of doors. Impa leads us to the one on the far right. The room is a small parlor, fitted with old (deadish?) wood chairs and a small table. There are no ornaments, though: only some weird inscriptions on the walls. Some look like letters; others seemed to have no design at all. And yet all shine with a strange blue luminosity.

Impa lets us in, and then speaks. "Wait here for a moment." And she leaves. I look at Zelda, puzzled. She rolls her eyes and goes to find a seat. I prefer to stand stupidly, looking around. The room is not exactly a place to have fun. The door is, funnily enough, locked. Crazy Impa locked us in. How's that for trust?

I look at Zel. She's fallen asleep. She must be dead tired by now, hardly said a word. Her chin is resting peacefully on her shoulder. Some wild locks of hair have fallen over her face. I stand before her, overwhelmed, I guess, as her chest rises tranquilly. I haven't been close to many ladies, let alone a princess, and she's captivated me. I consider touching her hair. Impressive how this little idea can make me feel so happy? And just as I move slowly towards her and raise my hand to take off the rebel bangs, the door opens unceremoniously and Impa comes in followed by a very old man.

Zel wakes up, notices my hand almost touching her hair, and immediately turns crimson. I blush too, fiercely. Now this is an embarrassing position. With a false dignity I turn around. Kal is trying hard not to laugh. The old man's face is like a wall. Like an ugly wall. Impassive. Zel has somehow managed to jump and stand in the other side of the room, suddenly very interested in one of the inscriptions on the wall. And she has managed to do that without loosing an ounce of dignity.

"Right, then," I say. "So you wanted to tell us something, Kal?"

"I did. But perhaps _you _want to tell us something?"

I don't believe her. She seems to be having fun with this whole mess. "Um, yeah," I manage, "yeah. It's just that I find these, er, inscriptions, ah, fascinating."

"Sure you would find that _fascinating_," se adds, with a straight face. "But it is not the time to… illustrate you about _these matters_. Instead, I wanted you to meet Erra. He is one of the Wise of the Sheikah."

"Hello, Link. I am Erra, one the Wise, and the leader of the Vanir Sheikah," the old man begins. I can only now notice how old he looks. He seems to be death. No pun intended. "Indeed, I believe you have met my brother Nergal. He lived in your town, only with another name."

I frown. A Sheikah living in Kakariko? And then it strikes me. "You… your brother was Master Curt?"

"Indeed. He was my brother."

I was just going to add that they look nothing alike, but restrain myself. Surely this is not the time for smartassness.

"I am here because of all Impa has told me. I wish to aid you, providing you with as much information as I can. I believe we may be able to help you".

"And why should we?" comes another voice. I look back at the door and notice another man has entered. This guy looks younger (not much, but in comparison to Erra, definitely so). He also looks more noble. He has long black hair that elegantly falls on his shoulders, and a great dark mantle covers him. He looks like a true king of the Sheikahs. Much more than Impa. "Why should we help this man, of whom we know nothing?"

"Because I have vowed to him," Impa puts in simply. As usual.

"I do not know if we are to trust them, Impa."

"Perhaps he does not know if he is to trust you, either."

"Oh?" he asks with a mock smile. I definitely do not like him. He turns to me and bows, somewhat overdone, in my opinion. "Excuse me. I am Enlil, Lord of the Sheikah Aesir. I too am, therefore, one of the Wise. I help Impa rule and plan the actions of the Sheikah. I have been told of your coming and have been expecting you. But I do not know if we should welcome you so openly into our haven. We Sheikah are not easily opened to others, and we rarely confide our secrets."

"I've noticed," I manage to grunt. I don't like him. But I notice Zel seems to have some appreciation for him; I can see it in her eyes. And I do not know why, but that makes me like him even less.

"I told you, Enlil: I vowed to him. I trust him to be who I told you."

"Following your lead, Impa, I would trust him also with my life, as always. But sometimes things are not as easily settled. His identity must be more clearly established. Imagine someone may extract information from him by torture?" I can only roll my eyes.

"I took precautions. Many times I lead them in circles."

I grunt. Crazy Sheikahs. Like there's a whole host of whackos out there just _dying _to find out how to get to the nearest bathroom in Cavernburg.

"We use different… facilities. Not bathrooms," the old man, Erra, says looking at me amusedly.

Damn. Still thinking out loud.

"Look. I know you guys are wise, and know many things, and all that, but you have to stop thinking I am going to betray you. Above all, I have no idea where I am, not exactly anyway, and second of all, I have found nothing out that would be worth selling to anyone. Lastly, I know no one to sell or give this information to, and I wouldn't just allow myself to be captured. I'd rather die in battle. I will never join them, and I will make sure they all end up dead for messing up with Hyrule"

Don't ask me why, but the last part seems to have been exactly the thing to say. Erra and Enlil are looking appreciative, as if looking at me for the first time, and approving. Impa is trying to hide a note of pride in her face. And Zel is looking at me calculatingly, but I cannot read her expression.

"I can see now why you believe in him, Impa," Enlil says after a few minutes. There is a strange glint in his eye.

They take me to a slightly bigger room, as I seem to have passed their first test. There are many more in this room, maybe a dozen. All are dressed in blue, not black, so I guess that means they are high ranking Sheikah. Though only a handful have a silver emblem on their uniform, and certainly not as big or as elaborate even as Zelda's.

They tell me their names and all that, but I cannot remember them. I do now that there are two groups, the Aesir and the Vanir. Looks like some kind of clan structure, but it's not exactly that. Maybe they are different motivations among the Sheikah. The Aesir look much more like noble and strong warriors, tested by experience and suffering. They have cold but not arrogant eyes. Their faces are hard-worn. These guys have seen death. I can tell that. The Vanir look somewhat older, if you can call it that, not that they are really much older to the other guys. But they seem grave and reflexive, subtle and cunning. But hey, that's just what I think. Enlil and Erra lead them respectively. They are seated closest to Impa. They are the ones that look older, and all look wise and noble.

Impa, by the way, seems to be in total control. And I mean total.

I do not know exactly what they are planning to do. My first surprise is that everyone is seated, but when I look around there seems to be no place for me to sit in. Impa passes by my side casually and whispers in my ear that this is deference, as I am their guest, and the one they are going to instruct me with their wisdom and council. I think she is making fun of me. Again.

It is Erra the one who begins to speak.

"This is what we know, Link. Many years ago there was an Imprisoning War. That we know for a fact. Other details are now only legendary. And many versions of this legend have been passed down. In some, the King fought with the Knights of Hryrule. In others, the Hero fought alone. We do not know this clearly. There also seems to be some kind of time warp, against which our powers of Seeing are useless. Some believe the Imprisoning War may have taken place in different time dimensions. In any case, the multiplicity, their differences and possible interpretations are irrelevant. I will only tell you what we do know. The Imprisoning War was fought within Hyrule, not against outside enemies. One of the people that inhabited the lands, the western Gerudos, fought to gain control of the castle and the country. They were led by a dark sorcerer. Seven Sages fought in the War also, so we are told, and in the End they imprisoned this evil sorcerer in another dimension. Perhaps they imprisoned him in another version of time. It is hard to say, any way. But we do know the Sages sealed the passage between our dimension and the dark one. The Dark World or Evil Realm are names our different traditions give to the place where the evil sorcerer is confined. No one should be able to come forth or go that way.

"Much more we know of this dark sorcerer. A name has been given to us, like an old evil from forgotten legends. It is a name of dark omens. It is the name of Ganon. You flinch. You know of him. Many names have been given to him. Dragmire, the Dark Ruler; Mandrag the Black of the Enchanted Thieves; Ganondorf the Evil Sorcerer. It matters not. He is evil. All that matter is that.

"Many legends of Hyrule speak of him. He is always there haunting our history. Legends pass on: legends of Cycles and Cataclysms, of _coup d'états _and revolutions. Somehow this Ganon was able to break the seals between worlds and come to Hyrule again and again, his intent to gain possession of the land always driving him. He seems to be immortal, for all we can tell. The Book of Mudora, which Impa tells us you possess, includes some of these legends and stories. It also includes prophecies meant to be used by the Heroes that have always saved us."

"And this makes us wonder," Enlil cuts in. "The Wise have always wondered indeed about this: every time Ganon enters our world, there is always someone against him. A sword, a champion of light, a true hero."

"What do you mean, enter our world?" I ask.

"You might have heard," one of the Aesir begins, and I'm not sure who, might be Balder or Honir or something like that, "the Legend of the Triforce. A relic of ancient and divine powers that is. Ganon has always craved for it. His intent, as we have been able to decipher, is to gain possession of the Triforce. And he has tried just that many times. Indeed many believe the place we now call Evil Realm was once the Holy Land, the Golden Land, the place where the Triforce rests. He has been shut in that dimension, but he has not the Triforce. Not the complete Triforce, at least. But it seems he has been able to… interact with our dimension, on occasions. Nevertheless, he does not have the Triforce."

"And he has never been able to get it?"

"No," says Erra. "Here we deal with another matter of the utmost importance. A very curious matter. The Triforce has always seemed to avoid Ganon's grasp."

"Because of these heroes you told me about?"

"Partially," Enlil continues, "but not quite. It is the Triforce itself, which seems to refuse governance under the Dark King. We have heard the legend of a time in which Ganon had complete power over the Triforce. He had, however, to break the seals between the Dark and Light worlds."

"Yeah, I've seen something like that," I say. Sure, I remember that _adventure_: waking up in the middle of the night, meeting my uncle on a cold dungeon, rescuing Zelda, losing Zelda…

"Indeed," Enlil continues. "So you must be aware that he did not manage it. The Hero stopped him before he could effectively eliminate the seals. And the Triforce made no effort to aid him. Not completely, at least. You see, when Ganon first sought to rule it, the Triforce split into tree triangles, each bearing one of the supreme triforsic powers."

"Er, tree triangles…?" I stutter.

"That they would look like, but it is not what they are exactly," explains Erra. "Rather, it seems that the Triforce itself divides, so that instead of these powers being contained in the sacred Relic, it chooses three hosts to wield it. It seems the Triforce is able to imprint itself on the souls of these Chosen Ones. The external appearance would be that of a golden triangle, much like a drawing, in the body of those Chosen by Destiny."

"A tattoo, you mean? In their bodies? How big is it? Where is it? Can it appear on your—"

"_So_," that's Impa, cutting me off. Again. "I believe, Master Erra, that you could tell us how to deal with this information."

"Certainly, certainly," Erra breaks in. "What I was about to say is that these Three Chosen Ones have always been Ganon himself, the _one and only Ganon_, mind you, and—"

"Let me guess. Zelda, a Princess of Hyrule, and Link. A nomad." I finish for him.

"Well, yes," concedes Enlil. "Conceded, there have been many Zeldas in the history of Hyrule. An old Prince made sure of that after her sister was put to sleep by an evil sorcerer. Indeed, that involves the first legend of the Triforce we have. It is the story of the sleeping Zelda. In ancient days, many, many a year ago, a great king used the whole united Triforce to keep the peace with the True Force. So the Triforce became the basis for Hyrule's providence. Perhaps he kept the Triforce in temples, since centuries later some were said to house the Triforce itself... And maybe the Triforce gave advice to the king, since it is said it was to guide the intelligent life on the world of Hyrule. When the king died, the Triforce passed to his son, but the prince's heart was not in balance, so he only got one piece. Before he died, the king had told his daughter Zelda why the Triforce would be split and or where the pieces would be hidden. An evil wizard knew this, and tried to force Zelda to tell him where the Triforce pieces were hidden. The wizard failed, but when he put Zelda to sleep he forced the Sages to reconsider letting just anybody try to take the Triforce. The Sages realized that the Triforce could fall into the wrong hands, and responded by hiding the Triforce in its original resting place, the Golden Land, and sealing the entrance with the Master Sword and the Temple of Time. Over the years the location of the Triforce was forgotten because these select few neglected to pass on the knowledge. The Hylian Book of Mudora, however, kept a record of its location and how to get there..."

"And by what Impa has told us," Erra continues, "you seem to be able to recall all this. Indeed, this evil wizard we know was named Agahnim. He was defeated then, but later came back, in the time of the Abduction, and he was the one who helped Ganon discover the sages or descendants of sages, that could power the spell to break the seals. And that you remember, it seems. You are able to recall the lives of the previous Links, I mean. And that can only make us wonder."

"What?"

"Whether the Three legendary Chosen Ones are the same Three," a different Aesir explains.

"What? What do you mean?" I gasp in disbelief. "You mean… you mean…"

"We do not know much for certain," a Vanir helps me. "We know nothing for certain, actually. But _some_ interpreters claim that you _are_, for all purposes, _the same Link _that has always fought _the same Ganon_, with the aid of _the same Zelda_. Of course, this is only one possible explanation. It is not necessarily true. We also realize this information might be disturbing."

I always thought that I was the most resourceful and witty man that has ever existed. I thought no one could ever surprise me, or get ahead of me, or surpass me in any way. Certainly not speaking. But right now I don't know what to say. So I do the only possible thing: I open my mouth very stupidly. And I notice that somehow I've lost my balance, and I'm sitting on the cold stone floor.

"Link? Are you feeling well?" Enlil asks me, as he reaches down to look at my bewildered face.

"Crazy shadows," is all I manage while he helps me up to my feet.

"Well, surely you don't have to be so rude," he says and I suddenly loose his support, consequently falling back on the floor. I certainly don't like him. Tiredly standing up again, I look at Zelda. She looks quite calm, serenely seated next to some Vanir.

"What does the Princess think about this?" I wonder at no one in particular.

"Nothing at this time," Impa speaks. "This information has already been confided to the Princess. She knows of this possibility already, and she has heard other theories as well."

"Really?"

"Yes, but that is not what matters right now," Erra says.

"What is it that matters right now, then?"

"Your part in all this," Enlil explains. "The part of the Hero, that is. I am prepared to accept you as the Hero of Legend. It may or may not be that you _are_ the same Link that has saved us all countless times before, but that matters not right now. In this precise moment, our most important issue is to decide a course of action. And that, it seems, necessarily involves you, as you have accepted a role of destiny. Indeed, for all Impa has told us, you seem to have virtually accepted to _be_ the hero. As we have told you, the Triforce has never allowed Ganon to gain possession of it. But to ensure this, the part of the Hero is necessary. The Triforce has also always guaranteed this. At least always that we have known of. The Triforce, you may know, is divided into three different aspects of magic. These three represent Strenght, Knowledge, and Nobility. They are the Triforce of Power, Wisdom, and Courage. The Triforce usually grants its Courage to the Hero of Hyrule. And so, you may be the actual possessor of the triforsic Courage."

"So you are wondering if I have this golden triangle tattooed on my body?"

"Well, yes," Erra concedes, obviously not living my choice of words. "Do you have it?"

"Not that I know."

"And you have, ah, _searched_ for this particular marking?"

"If you mean that somewhere in my privates there is a shining golden triangle that I have seen and admired, I can tell you, no. What do you want me to do, strip?" I can't help but see that Zel has blushed with this, and I kinda start blushing, too. Time to divert attention, I guess. "Have you, er, seen if the Princess has a Triforce mark?"

"We are not sure about it."

"What do you mean?"

"They mean," Zel tells me, "that I _do _have certain manifestations of being imbued with Wisdom, but there is no physical manifestation of the Triforce. Yet."

"You mean you have suddenly become all-knowledgeable and wise, knowing everything about everything? It figures." Zel frowns. Oops. But she is no wise woman, I can tell you that. Pretty, maybe, but she's definitely not my kind of guru.

"She is actually the one that has helped us clear a lot of our legends and data. This is not the first time she has been contacted. Since the war began, she has also helped us. We do not know if the Triforce is united or divided right now. We don't even know where it is, but she seems to hold Wisdom, or at least to be connected with it. Princess Zelda has dreams and psychokinetical ventures into other times and places, which leads us to believe that the Triforce of Wisdom may have encouraged her psychic abilities, so as to make her able to react with parallel dimensions and planes from the time continuum and space vortexes."

"Thanks for clearing that up for me, Impa."

"She means Link that I can sense events taking place in other parts of the realm, and I can reach, mostly through dreams and visions, into the past and future."

"Right, your Worshipfulness, thank _you_ for clearing that up. Next time I want to know why my reflection in the mirror is turned the other way around, and why I have two equal but non interchangeable hands, I'll let you know."

"She means she knows what's going on in the palace and see the future, you daft cucco-brained man!" Erra yells. I didn't think him to be the exasperating kind. Maybe I'm going to start not liking him either.

"OK, so I _am _stupid! Bite me!"

"I beg your pardon?" one of the female Vanir asks me, bewildered.

"I meant, OK, she seems to possess the Triforce of Wisdom. So, what do we do with that?"

"The immediate course of action," Impa explains, "is to determine whether you are a suitable receptor for the Triforce of Courage. That is, to determine if you can have it, actually have, will have it, or if you are simply unfit."

"And how do we do that?"

"You alone can know the answer, Hero," Erra speaks mysteriously. "You can reach the memories of the ancient heroes of Hyrule, can you not?"

"As far as I know, I can reach the memories of _two _previous Links if that is what you mean."

"Yes, that we know," one Vanir continues. "According to our conjectures, the most likely possibility is that you can see the most important events in the labors of past heroes. Thus, you have been granted access to the memories of the most prominent heroes. Only the important events, mind you. You would not be able to see them sleeping, or drinking water from a river or something like that. We believe them to be the Hero of Time, and the Cataclysm Hero."

"Why are they different? Are there different kinds of heroes?"

"That depends on your point of view." Good thing he told me that. I hate straightforward answers. "Many claim that they are essentially the same kind of Hero. Others do not think so. Some distinguish between the legendary Hero of Hyrule and the Cataclysm Hero. The titles of Hero of Time or Hero of Winds could be the same as one or both of these, or an altogether different thing. I myself believe the Hero of Time title is the same as the Cataclysm Hero. The Hero of Time should be able to travel between time dimensions, and I believe the Dark World is nothing but an alternate time dimension that has continued to exist due to Ganon's Power. That would explain the similarities and parallelism between our world and the Dark world."

"We have a lot of prophecies concerning that," the female Vanir adds. "Of all them, this is the central, the prophecy of the Great Cataclysm: _If a person who has an evil heart gets the Triforce, a Hero is destined to appear, and he alone must face the person who began the Great Cataclysm. If the evil one destroys the Hero, nothing can save the world from his wicked reign. Only a person of the Knights of Hyrule, who protected the royalty of Hylia, can become the Hero_."

"But you should take into account," Erra adds, "the legendary inscriptions in triforsic pedestals: _The Hero's triumph in Cataclysm's Eve wins three symbols of virtue. The Master Sword he will then retrieve, keeping the Knight's line true_."

"And what about," Enlil asks, "our own prophecy, the Prophecy of the Sheikahs? _When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call those destined to be Sages, who dwell in the Five Temples… Together with the Hero of Time, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world_."

"But that may only refer to the Hero of Time, not to him," a Vanir says. "I do not share Feyr's time-dimensional interpretation. And so, we must remember, an ancient Sage once said, "_the power to fight together with the Sages makes you the Hero of Time_."

"And indeed that is not enough, maybe, to be the Hero of Hyrule," Erra intervenes. "Remember the other prophecy: _if one clears all of the dungeons of evil and wins the Triforce, he will be recognized as the true Legendary Hero of Hyrule_. Maby this _true _hero has never appeared."

"But has that ever happened?"

"Some of the legends that have come to us claim so" Enlil again. "Indeed, the Abduction Era hero seems to have obtained the whole Triforce and vanished Ganon. This would be one of the two Links you recollect. In my opinion, you are able to recall the actions of the first and last heroes. But even if the Last Link obtained the Triforce and healed the land with it, whether the Triforce is now united or separated, who can tell? And anyway, we must not forget Aginah the Sage's prophecy: _The Hero will stand in the desert holding the Book of Mudora_."

"Besides," that's the female Vanir again, "remember: _The true Hero will find the Moon Pearl in the mountain tower_."

I can't take it anymore. Too much nonsense. "OK, OK, people! Can we turn it down for a while? This is getting too much historical for my gusto. I know nothing about prophecies and ancient I only agreed to one thing with Her Excellentness: to get three stones and one sword. Later, if I remain alive, I will try to wipe out an entire army and destroy their leader, thus saving king and country. And I've got to do this in three days. So, if you would kindly take your minds out of the past, and come back to the present, we may continue."

"Link," Impa tells me, "you must realize how important these matters are."

"Really? What does it matter if I become the Hero of Light, the Hero of Life, and the Hero of cuccos? The only thing that matters is—"

"Link," Erra explains with the pained voice of one explaining something very important to somebody very stupid. I am really beginning to dislike him. "What is the one thing that the great heroes had that aided them in their quests? What is the one weapon that can effectively face and conquer evil? The words of legend we have told you already: _The Hero's triumph in Cataclysm's Eve wins three symbols of virtue. He will then retrieve…_"

"The Master Sword!"

"Right. So, you see, we already know many things. Above all, we know you must obtain the Master Sword. Without it, it is doubtful you will be able to even face these fiends. And yet, we also know that to obtain the Master Sword, you will first need these three symbols of virtue the prophecy speaks of. Indeed, the ancient Sage Sahasrahla once said of the Sword of Evil's Bane: _Not just anyone can use that weapon. Legends say only the Hero who has won the three Pendants can wield the sword_."

"We also know," Enlil says with a smirk, "that you have to hold the Book of Mudora in the desert, that you will obtain the Moon Pearl in the mountain tower, that Five Sages will be awakened in their temples, and that if you rescue them in this temples clearing them of all evil and get the Triforce, you will be the true legendary hero. Provided you are of the line of the Knights of Hyrule. If not, then this is all a scam."

"I _am_. My father was a Knight."

"We mean the ancient bloodline. Many Knights of our age are just knights because they took the job. Not because they are descendants of that particular, original clan."

"Whatever. I _am _a Knight."

Impa and Zelda roll their eyes. And I think Erra tried to, also. Crazy ancient dead shadow.

"Fine. We can worry about that later. Right now, tell me, where are the Pendants?"

They look at each other almost sheepishly for a while. I am beginning to wonder…

"Oh, give me a BREAK!" I scream exasperatedly, throwing my arms up. "You don't know? What good have you made? You've only remembered a bunch of prophecies and you are a bunch of pathetic historic—"

"Link, will you SHUT UP for a moment?" an Aesir shouts. "We _do _know where the pendants are."

"Oh. Sorry. My mistake."

"We told you of the Five temples," Enlil explains. "We know them. We have Sheikah doing reconnaissance missions around them. We know two of this temples have a Pendant, one of them is in a mountain, so we are guessing the Moon Pearl is over there, but do not know that for sure, and we know the other is in a forest. This last temple appears to be desserted, but we have not gone inside. We detect a lot of magic emanating from there, and we are not sure if it is light or black magic. And lastly, we know General Kane wields the Pendant of Power around his neck."

"Oh, this is just great—"

"We are working on it, Link. Right now, the best thing you can do is visit the other two temples holding a Pendant. When you get the first two, we will talk about the rest."

"You want me to go to two unexplored, magical, probably full of lethal things, temples?"

"The first two do not appear to be full of _lethal things_, as you put it. Indeed, the Heroes of history have many times entered temples full of evil and defeated them. I do not know why you fear."

"Well, maybe because they _were _heroes. And we do not know if I am."

"You are," Zelda speaks softly. "I am sure."

"Er, right, Princess." I unexpectedly feel uncomfortable with her confidence.

"Besides," Enlil speaks again, "you will not go alone. Other Sheikah will be with you. As our leader vowed to you, we will help you."

"Good, I was beginning to think you guys were all talk, and no action. Let's hit it, then."

_**Later**_

From the depths of the night, the Phantom has come back. I think it is time to build my reputation a little bit more. And this is just the best opportunity.

They showed me these weird things they call "lost doors", which are actually portals that take you anywhere in Hyrule. _That's _how these shadows get to be everywhere.

After getting some food and sleep, and I actually had to press Impa to get these, I got into one, and the next second, I was out. The door comes out in a specially placed underground cave they made. Three Sheikah are behind me. Impa rejected my kind invitation to join us. Said she had to go through a lot of things, having got back to her city. To me, she's just weaseling out. They are young Aesir, which seems to be the more active, fighting-oriented, better spying-trained Sheikah. They didn't give me their real names. Whatever. Apparently, Aesir use special battle names when they are in active duty. I have to call them Ace, Bully, and Flatface. The last one did not sound much pleased with his nickname. I wonder how he got it. They all look the same to me. They wear black suits, faces covered. Their eyes shine red, and that makes me nervous.

Me? I have my green stuff. Its warm enough, I think, fits, and it's not too heavy. I have my sword in my belt, my bow and quiver in my back, and my Great Green Hat.

"Right," I mutter. "Let's do this."

We step out of the cave through some dissimulated very poorly built, too-much-vertical-for-my-taste stairs (if you can call them that: they are so well hidden I think it would be better if there weren't any stairs at all, and you just used ropes). We are in the middle of a small, dark forest scene. The trees seem tall, oppressive, and old. We move a little bit, with Ace in the lead. After a few minutes we seem to at last have reached the edge of the forest.

"How's it?" Ace asks.

"I think," I begin to answer, until another voice cuts me off.

"All's clear. Go in now," it's another Sheikah that steps out of the shadow of a tree. Crazy Sheikahs. "We will keep watch here, until the morning. If you do not come out, we will bring reinforcements."

Ace only nods, and steps out of the forest at full speed. I brace myself and get ready to follow him. Bully and Flatface are already moving ahead. As I step out of the forest, I notice why they are running. We are in a small bowl shaped island in the middle of Lake Hylia. The moon is shining brightly above us. Anyone may be able to see us. Fortunately, my _friends _seem to know how to avoid making any noise. As for me, well, I _am _the Phantom.

In the eastern shore a tall menacing tower shines to the moonlight. I adventure a glance just before joining my teammates, who are hiding on an edge in the western side of the wall. I can't see much, but the tower surely looks ancient. Positively ancient. So ancient I suddenly feel just how young I am. It gives me the creeps. Everything's too quiet. The lake makes little noise, providing the whole atmosphere with an eerie serenity.

When I reach the place my _friends_ are, covering in some bushes close to the wall, I have to recover my breath, but they seem to have just gotten back from a pleasant walk. Flatface is checking out everything to assume we are not being seen. The moon is shining just above us, after all. We have to keep _very _close to the bushes, you know? Very—

"Move," he says in a barely audible whisper. Crawling through the bushes and thick plants that grow on the tower or temple's (whatever this thing is) side we move alongside the wall, until we reach a great black door, flanked by a series of very elaborate stairs. I wonder how the hell we are getting in. Without being seen. Knocking does not sound like a very phantomlike or sheikahlike option.

"Coming?" Bully tells me. Ace is nowhere in sight, and Flatface is entering a small hidden passage on a corner or the wall a couple of meters to the left of the great stairs. Hidden door? I must have missed it. Good idea, though. Taking in a small breath, I prepare myself to follow them. Bully is awaiting me, so, without further ado, I bend down and throw myself into the tunnel. Into the dark.


End file.
